A sourced record, 1900 to 2026
How governments have limited journalists, placed on one map
Choose a country, a tactic or a decade to see what governments did to journalism and fact-based reporting, who led them at the time, and how each case ended. Every entry is dated and every fact cites its source.
By place: every country in the record
One square per country, arranged roughly by geography. Select a country to open its page.
- In the record
- No entry yet
- Focal case: the United States
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
The current chapter
The United States chapterCNN, MS NOW, Politico hard passes deactivated, 2026
United States · North AmericaRSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
On September 18, 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House.
The White House is the president's office and residence in Washington, D.C. He made the announcement on Truth Social, a social media platform, and in the Oval Office, and described the outlets' coverage as "FICTION and LIES." On September 19, 2026, the outlets' reporters were denied entry at the White House gates after their hard passes, the standing creden…
Full entry, with claims and sourcesThe United States chapterWhere this tactic has led elsewhere
- Tactic
- Access bans, Credential control
- Stage
- Restrict
- Head of government
- Donald Trump
- Status
- enjoined
Events
- Trump announces CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be banned from the White House
- Secret Service deactivates the three outlets' hard passes; reporters denied entry
- WHCA statement on the White House's position on CNN, MS NOW and Politico
- Other pool networks decline to fill CNN's vacated rotating pool slot
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico file suit against Trump and the White House
- Trump administration files opposition to the outlets' motion for a temporary restraining order
- Hearing scheduled in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump
- Judge Timothy Kelly grants a temporary restraining order; White House told to reinstate the three outlets' hard passes
- Access restored after the order; CNN and MS NOW reporters denied entry to the state dinner arrival for Xi Jinping
- Outlets tell the court the White House has repeatedly violated the order; reporters regain entry around noon
- White House guidance replaces CNN with Real America's Voice News on Air Force One for the September 26 trip to Tennessee
- Network television pool resumes with CNN taking part
- No television pool travels on Air Force One to Tennessee after CNN is left off; the other pool networks decline to take its place
- Attorney General Todd Blanche says press access to the White House and Air Force One is a privilege
- Network television camera crew films the president's public events again, a day after no TV pool traveled
- CNN, MS NOW, Politico and three reporters file a motion for a preliminary injunction
- TIME reports that the network television pool is resuming its coverage of the president
- White House removes CNN from the press pool for the October 1 Texas and Oklahoma trip
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 77 media organizations move to file an amicus brief
- Court sets the hearing on the preliminary injunction motion for October 8, 2026
- Judge grants the Society for the Rule of Law and Democracy leave to file an amicus brief
- NAACP moves to file an amicus brief supporting the preliminary injunction motion
- Defendants file opposition to the preliminary injunction motion
- Judge grants Reporters Committee and 77 media organizations leave to file an amicus brief
- Plaintiffs file reply in support of the preliminary injunction motion
- White House does not allow Politico on Air Force One for its print pool turn
- Court hears preliminary injunction motion and extends temporary restraining order to 2026-10-13
- Justice Department says it is investigating whether the White House television pool's halt of coverage violated antitrust law
- Judge Timothy Kelly grants a preliminary injunction barring the administration from banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House complex while the lawsuit proceeds
- Defendants file a notice of interlocutory appeal to the D.C. Circuit from the preliminary injunction order and opinion
- CNN's outside counsel sends the Justice Department a demand letter over CNN's exclusion from Air Force One and pool duties
- Trump says in a social media post he may move the White House press corps to a different location
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico file an amended complaint seeking access to the Oval Office and Air Force One
- Plaintiffs file a further motion for a preliminary injunction and request an expedited hearing
- Court sets briefing deadlines and a December 2, 2026 hearing on the further preliminary injunction motion
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press moves to file an amicus brief on the further preliminary injunction motion
Three ways in
Every view has its own address, with CSV, JSON and Markdown.
By place
Continent, then country, each with its Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press-freedom rank.
All countries in the record
By tactic
Thirteen tactics, each defined; every incident has one main tactic.
- Access bans
- Credential control
- Licensing and closure of outlets
- Prior restraint
- Secrets and espionage laws
- Insult and defamation laws
- Surveillance and subpoenas
- Funding and ownership pressure
- Expulsion and visa denial
- Shutdowns and blocking
- Detention and violence
- Lawsuits against the press
- Official labels
One tactic, five stages
The full ladder for access bansA ladder takes one tactic, here access bans, and sets out what governments have done with it, stage by stage. The United States rows are marked as the focal case.
1900 to 2026
Every decade- 1900s1901 · Philippines · United States colonial government's libel law i…
- 1910s1913 · Türkiye · Ottoman Empire bars lawmakers and officials fro…
- 1920s1922 · Russia · Soviet censorship office
- 1930s1933 · Portugal · Salazar government formally establishes press c…
- 1940s1941 · Greece · Collaborationist government creates a Directora…
- 1950s1950 · South Africa · Suppression of Communism Act lets the governmen…
- 1960s1960 · United States · Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New Y…
- 1970s1971 · United States · Police search a student newspaper's offices for…
- 1980s1980 · South Korea · Martial-law government purges journalists who r…
- 1990s1990 · United States · Supreme Court strikes down Florida law barring…
- 2000s2001 · Russia · State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control o…
- 2010s2010 · Israel · A court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' ca…
- 2020s2026 · United States · three outlets' passes deactivated at the White House
Recent coverage
All recent coverage- Egypt’s media regulator says it supports press freedom, defends website licensing rules - Society - Egypt
- Nepal journalists, youths protest alleged press freedom violations in Kathmandu
- Now, Modi govt blinks on its privacy law? Media ‘not covered under DPDP Act’
- Incoming Jewish congressmen urge Israel to release Arab journalist detained after interviewing fugitive former MK
- Rights body slams ‘politically motivated’ imprisonment of Bangladeshi senior journalist
What this record is about
This site records one kind of pressure on journalism: government action that limits reporters' access, credentials or funding. That pressure runs alongside an economic one. Newsroom employment in the United States has fallen 26% since 2008, and newspaper advertising revenue is down about 80% since 2005 Pew Research Center, while misleading content, cheaper to produce, spreads faster than verified reporting. Read the fuller context.
Data and tools
Every page is also published as Markdown (add .md) and JSON (add .json). The full record is a nightly Frictionless Data Package under CC BY 4.0 at /data, and a public MCP server at /mcp lets AI assistants search and fetch it.