The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, 1900 to today

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.

Countries in the recordA world map with one square per country, placed roughly by geography. Dark squares are countries the record holds at least one entry for; the shading shows only whether a country is in the record, not how many entries it has. The United States, the focal case, is outlined.Canada: in the recordCAUnited States: in the record, focal caseUSMexico: in the recordMXCuba: no entry yetCUHaiti: in the recordHTGuatemala: in the recordGTEl Salvador: in the recordSVHonduras: no entry yetHNNicaragua: in the recordNIColombia: no entry yetCOVenezuela: in the recordVEEcuador: in the recordECPeru: no entry yetPEBrazil: in the recordBRBolivia: no entry yetBOParaguay: no entry yetPYChile: in the recordCLArgentina: in the recordARUruguay: no entry yetUYIceland: no entry yetISNorway: no entry yetNOSweden: no entry yetSEFinland: no entry yetFIIreland: no entry yetIEUnited Kingdom: in the recordGBNetherlands: no entry yetNLGermany: in the recordDEPoland: in the recordPLBelarus: in the recordBYRussia: in the recordRUFrance: no entry yetFRSwitzerland: no entry yetCHCzechia: in the recordCZSlovakia: in the recordSKUkraine: no entry yetUAKazakhstan: in the recordKZMongolia: no entry yetMNNorth Korea: in the recordKPPortugal: in the recordPTSpain: in the recordESItaly: no entry yetITAustria: no entry yetATHungary: in the recordHUGeorgia: in the recordGEAzerbaijan: in the recordAZChina: in the recordCNSouth Korea: in the recordKRJapan: no entry yetJPMalta: in the recordMTSerbia: in the recordRSGreece: no entry yetGRTürkiye: in the recordTRAfghanistan: no entry yetAFPakistan: in the recordPKHong Kong: in the recordHKTaiwan: no entry yetTWMorocco: in the recordMAAlgeria: no entry yetDZTunisia: in the recordTNLibya: no entry yetLYEgypt: in the recordEGIsrael: in the recordILSyria: no entry yetSYIraq: no entry yetIQIran: in the recordIRIndia: in the recordINBangladesh: in the recordBDMyanmar: in the recordMMPhilippines: in the recordPHSenegal: no entry yetSNMali: no entry yetMLNiger: no entry yetNEChad: no entry yetTDSudan: no entry yetSDEritrea: in the recordERSaudi Arabia: in the recordSAYemen: no entry yetYEThailand: in the recordTHCambodia: in the recordKHViet Nam: in the recordVNNigeria: in the recordNGCameroon: no entry yetCMSouth Sudan: no entry yetSSEthiopia: in the recordETMalaysia: in the recordMYDemocratic Republic of the Congo: no entry yetCDUganda: no entry yetUGKenya: no entry yetKEIndonesia: no entry yetIDPapua New Guinea: no entry yetPGAngola: no entry yetAORwanda: no entry yetRWTanzania: in the recordTZFiji: no entry yetFJZimbabwe: in the recordZWMozambique: no entry yetMZAustralia: in the recordAUSouth Africa: in the recordZANew Zealand: no entry yetNZAMERICASEUROPEAFRICAASIAOCEANIA

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

The current chapter

The United States chapter
Focal case

United States: White House hard-pass deactivations for CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters, September 2026

United States · North AmericaRSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180

On September 18, 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, and in the Oval Office that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, the president's office and residence in Washington, D.C. He 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 credentials that let reporters enter the White House press area without applying each day, were deactivated. The outlets sued on September 21, 2026, and the case is pending as of 2026-09-22.

Full entry, with claims and sourcesThe United States chapterWhere this tactic has led elsewhere

Head of government
Donald Trump
Status
in effect

Events

  1. Trump announces CNN, MS NOW and Politico will be banned from the White House
  2. Secret Service deactivates the three outlets' hard passes; reporters denied entry
  3. WHCA statement on the White House's position on CNN, MS NOW and Politico
  4. Other pool networks decline to fill CNN's vacated rotating pool slot
  5. CNN, MS NOW and Politico file suit against Trump and the White House
  6. Trump administration files opposition to the outlets' motion for a temporary restraining order
  7. Hearing scheduled in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump

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.

Follow each tactic's ladder

By time

Anchor entries for each decade from 1900; from 2020, every well-sourced incident.

Open the timeline

One tactic, five stages

The full ladder for access bans

A 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.

  1. Restrict

    Limiting access or credentials for particular reporters or outlets

    United States, 2026The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, and in…Focal case

  2. Pressure

    Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage

    Philippines, 2018President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Rappler reporter Pia Ranada and the outlet's CEO barred from Malacanang Pal…

  3. Punish

    Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources

    United States, 2020After federal officers deployed to Portland used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on journalists and…Focal case

  4. Silence

    Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere

    Tanzania, 2025Tanzania's government restricted internet and social-media access on October 29, 2025, as citizens voted in a…

  5. Eliminate

    Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state invo…

    No rung at this stage for this tactic yet. Other ladders

1900 to 2026

Every decade
  1. 1900sNo entry yet
  2. 1910s1917 · United States · Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwauke…
  3. 1920s1922 · Russia · Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office…
  4. 1930s1933 · Portugal · Salazar government formally establishes press c…
  5. 1940s1941 · United States · Creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime c…
  6. 1950s1950 · South Africa · Suppression of Communism Act lets the governmen…
  7. 1960s1960 · Egypt · Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper…
  8. 1970s1971 · United States · Government seeks an injunction to stop The New…
  9. 1980s1980 · South Korea · Martial-law government purges journalists who r…
  10. 1990s1991 · United States · Military restricts reporters to escorted press…
  11. 2000s2001 · Russia · State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control o…
  12. 2010s2010 · Israel · A court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' ca…
  13. 2020s2026 · United States · three outlets' passes deactivated at the White House

Recent coverage

All recent coverage

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.

Why this record existsSources and standardsAbout

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.

Data packageincidents.csvMCP serverFeedsllms.txt