Potential ATI legislation restricts access If adopted in its current form, the Access to Information Act imposes a minimum 15-year prison sentence on any government officials who release information that is subject to a number of overly broad and vaguely defined exemptions. Those exemptions include disclosures that are “not justified in the public interest”, that “infringe commercial interests” or that “significantly undermine the operations of the Tanzania Broadcasting Association”. Section 18 (1) of the Access to Information Bill carries wider violation of right to information. This section reads as follows; “Information obtained by a person requesting from the information holder shall not be for public use”. The Act also attaches a minimum, five-year prison sentence for the offence of publicly sharing information received from an “information holder” — a public authority or private organisation that receives public funds or possesses information related to public health, the environment, human rights or illegal activities. The bill will allow such “information holders” to demand fees and will not prohibit officials from refusing to provide requested information. Finally, the Act will not allow courts to substitute fines for prison sentences, which critics said could enable those who wish to silence journalists to use the threat of imprisonment to do so. Critics of the proposed Act said the possibility of prison sentences had the potential to generate fear and create an excuse for officials not to provide information. JOURNALIST SAFETY Journalists prevented from carrying out their duties 78 So This is Democracy? 2015 There were scattered reports of incidents of intimidation against journalists covering the elections. Journalists were blocked from covering a meeting by an official from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi ruling party. Journalist Benson Mwakalinga was slapped and punched by the same official, when he protested the lack of press access. The Cybercrimes Act makes it an offence to publish any information online that is “false, deceptive, misleading or inaccurate”. If a mistake is made in a survey report or blogpost – or a statement is considered “misleading” – it could be regarded as a punishable offence. A month before the elections, party officials barred Peter Elias, a reporter from the privately owned newspaper Mwananchi, from joining the press entourage following Magufuli, allegedly because of his unfavourable coverage.