Type of Legislation and Specific Law or Section Scope of Law Enforcement Tanzania (southern Africa) (continued) Section 50(1)(a) of the Media Services Act 12 of 2016 makes it an offense for any person to use a media service for the purposes of publishing information which is intentionally or recklessly falsified in a manner which threatens the interests of defense, public safety, public order, the economic interests of the country, public morality, or public health, or is injurious to the reputation, rights, and freedom of other persons. Section 50(1)(b) prohibits the use of a media service to publish information which is maliciously or fraudulently fabricated. Section 50(1)(d) makes it an offense to publish a statement when knowing it to be false or without reasonable grounds for believing it to be true. Section 50(2) further criminalizes, inter alia, disseminating false information without justification. Section 54 criminalizes the publication of any false statement, rumor, or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm amongst the public or to disturb the public peace. Regulation 16 of the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2020, prohibits the publication of any “prohibited content” or the facilitation of user access to prohibited content. “Prohibited content” includes content which threatens public security and national safety, including rumors spread for the purpose of ridiculing, abusing, or harming the reputation, prestige, or status of the United Republic, the flag, or national anthem, and false content which is likely to mislead or deceive the public, except where it is clearly pre-stated that the content is satire and parody, or fiction, and not factual. Violation of Section 50 of the Media Services Act will result in a fine of between 5 million and 20 million shillings or imprisonment for three to five years, or both. Violation of Section 54 will result in a fine of between 10 million and 20 million shillings or imprisonment for four to six years, or both. Regulation 21 of the Electronic and Postal Communications (Online Content) Regulations, 2020, provides that a person who violates any regulation, including Regulation 16, will be liable for a minimum fine of 5 million Tanzanian shillings or a minimum prison sentence of one year, or both. Togo (West Africa) Disinformation: The Penal Code, 2015 Cybercrime: Loi 2018-026 sur la cybersecurity et la lutte contre la cybercriminalité Article 497 of the Penal Code broadly criminalizes the dissemination of news that is false or falsely attributed to third parties when done in bad faith and when it disturbs public peace or is likely to do so. It also prohibits false news that disturbs or is likely to disturb the discipline or morale of the armed forces, or to obstruct a war effort. Violation may be punished by imprisonment for six months to two years, and a fine of 500,000 to 2 million CFA francs, or both. If the court determines that the individual is the original author of the false news, then the person could be punished by imprisonment for one to three years, or a fine of 1 million to 3 million CFA francs, or both. This same penalty applies for violations of Article 497 that are likely to disturb the discipline or morale of the armed forces, or to obstruct a war effort. Article 25 criminalizes the electronic dissemination of false information which would make it appear that the destruction of property or harm to another person has been (or will be) committed, or regarding an emergency situation. Violation may result in a fine of 1 million to 3 million CFA francs, or imprisonment of between one and three years, or both. These penalties also apply to accomplices. Uganda (East Africa) Misinformation: The Penal Code (Cap. 120, 1950) Section 50 of the Penal Code, which criminalized the publication of false statements, rumors, or reports which were likely to cause fear and alarm amongst the public or to disturb the public peace, was declared null and void by the Supreme Court in 2002 (Charles Onyango & Anor v Attorney General, Supreme Court Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2002). However, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Section 171 of the Penal Code has been used to prosecute individuals for dissemination of false information. Section 171 prohibits an individual from unlawfully or negligently doing anything which that person knows or has reason to believe is likely to spread the infection of any life-threatening disease. I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Violation of Section 171 of the Penal Code may result in a prison sentence of up to seven years. Sub -Saharan Africa – 1 85