Compare: who did what, when: official labels

Each row is a tactic and each column a country. A cell lists the dated incidents in which that country's government used that tactic, with the head of government at the time and the outcome. Every incident links to its sources.

7 incidents, 5 tactics, 7 countries.

Tactics by country
Tactic	Georgia	Hungary	India	Nicaragua	Pakistan	Russia	United States
Licensing and closure of outlets					January 29, 2025 Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content. Shehbaz Sharif. Sustained. Issue of the day: The government said the amendment was needed to curb online disinformation, but journalists said the new offense's vague wording, covering content merely believed likely to cause "fear, panic, disorder or unrest," gave authorities broad discretion over ordinary reporting.
Prior restraint			March 2024 Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule. Narendra Modi. Reversed. Issue of the day: The government said the Fact Check Unit was needed to combat misinformation about its own policies and announcements online, at a time when it separately faced criticism over content restrictions ahead of India's 2024 general election.
Funding and ownership pressure	May 28, 2024 Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed. Irakli Kobakhidze. Sustained. Issue of the day: The governing Georgian Dream party framed the law as protecting Georgian sovereignty against foreign-funded groups it accused of trying to organize unrest, at a time when the party also faced growing opposition ahead of Georgia's 2024 parliamentary election.	December 20, 2023 Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023. Viktor Orban. Reversed				August 4, 2026 Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026. Vladimir Putin. Sustained	January 29, 2025 FCC chair reopens 'news distortion' complaints against CBS and NBC. Donald Trump. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The CBS complaint concerned 60 Minutes' October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris; the NBC complaint, filed in April 2025, concerned coverage of the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Expulsion and visa denial				February 16, 2023 Nicaragua strips 94 political opponents, including journalists, of citizenship. Daniel Ortega. Sustained. Issue of the day: The rulings followed years of pressure on Nicaragua's independent press, including the earlier forced closure of the country's oldest newspaper, La Prensa, and came days after Ortega's government released 222 jailed dissidents to the United States and stripped their citizenship as well.
Official labels	May 28, 2024 Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed. Irakli Kobakhidze. Sustained. Issue of the day: The governing Georgian Dream party framed the law as protecting Georgian sovereignty against foreign-funded groups it accused of trying to organize unrest, at a time when the party also faced growing opposition ahead of Georgia's 2024 parliamentary election.	December 20, 2023 Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023. Viktor Orban. Reversed	March 2024 Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule. Narendra Modi. Reversed. Issue of the day: The government said the Fact Check Unit was needed to combat misinformation about its own policies and announcements online, at a time when it separately faced criticism over content restrictions ahead of India's 2024 general election.	February 16, 2023 Nicaragua strips 94 political opponents, including journalists, of citizenship. Daniel Ortega. Sustained. Issue of the day: The rulings followed years of pressure on Nicaragua's independent press, including the earlier forced closure of the country's oldest newspaper, La Prensa, and came days after Ortega's government released 222 jailed dissidents to the United States and stripped their citizenship as well.	January 29, 2025 Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content. Shehbaz Sharif. Sustained. Issue of the day: The government said the amendment was needed to curb online disinformation, but journalists said the new offense's vague wording, covering content merely believed likely to cause "fear, panic, disorder or unrest," gave authorities broad discretion over ordinary reporting.	August 4, 2026 Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026. Vladimir Putin. Sustained	January 29, 2025 FCC chair reopens 'news distortion' complaints against CBS and NBC. Donald Trump. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The CBS complaint concerned 60 Minutes' October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris; the NBC complaint, filed in April 2025, concerned coverage of the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

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