Compare: who did what, when: licensing and closure of outlets

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.

21 incidents, 7 tactics, 20 countries.

Tactics by country
Tactic	Argentina	Brazil	Cambodia	Egypt	Ethiopia	Germany	Hong Kong	Hungary	India	Myanmar	Pakistan	Russia	Slovakia	South Africa	South Korea	Tanzania	Türkiye	United Kingdom	United States	Zimbabwe
Credential control						October 4, 1933 Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction. Adolf Hitler. Reversed. Issue of the day: Hitler's government, in power only since January 1933, was consolidating control over German public life and moved within months to bring newspapers and their editors directly under state and party direction.
Licensing and closure of outlets	March 4, 2024 Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam. Javier Milei. Sustained. Issue of the day: Milei had campaigned against what he called wasteful and politically one-sided state spending, and Telam, founded in 1945, had long been associated with the governments of the Kirchner political movement he defeated in the 2023 election.	1939 Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers. Getúlio Vargas. Reversed. Issue of the day: Vargas had ruled by decree since 1937 under the Estado Novo and used the DIP to promote his government's program and nationalist agenda while suppressing coverage critical of his rule.	September 4, 2017 Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill. Hun Sen. Sustained. Issue of the day: Preparations for Cambodia's 2018 general election and a wider government campaign against independent media and civil-society groups seen as sympathetic to the opposition.	May 24, 1960 Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country. Gamal Abdel Nasser. Ongoing. Issue of the day: Nasser's government was consolidating state control over Egypt's economy and institutions in the years following the 1952 revolution, and extended that control to the press as an instrument of its nationalist program.	September 3, 2025 Ethiopia arrests at least six journalists including Sheger FM staff over election-year coverage. Abiy Ahmed. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The arrests came ahead of Ethiopia's national elections scheduled for 2026, after the Ethiopian Media Authority ordered Sheger FM to remove an August 29, 2025 broadcast it said was one-sided and incited violence.	October 4, 1933 Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction. Adolf Hitler. Reversed. Issue of the day: Hitler's government, in power only since January 1933, was consolidating control over German public life and moved within months to bring newspapers and their editors directly under state and party direction.	December 15, 2025 China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026. John Lee. Sustained	December 21, 2010 Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage. Viktor Orban. Sustained. Issue of the day: The incoming Fidesz government's broader effort, after its April 2010 election win, to restructure Hungary's state institutions, including media regulation.	June 26, 1975 India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency. Indira Gandhi. Reversed. Issue of the day: A court had found Prime Minister Gandhi guilty of election malpractice shortly before the Emergency began, and her government cited threats to internal stability in declaring the state of emergency and imposing press press controls the next day.	March 8, 2021 Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup. Min Aung Hlaing. Sustained. Issue of the day: The outlets had been covering nationwide protests against the military's February 1, 2021 seizure of power from Myanmar's elected government, coverage the junta sought to stop by removing the outlets' legal authorization to operate.	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.	1922 Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication. Vladimir Lenin. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The new Soviet government, having just consolidated power after years of revolution and civil war, sought a single, centrally controlled system to replace the uncoordinated military and civilian press controls bodies it had inherited. April 14, 2001 State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network. Vladimir Putin. Sustained. Issue of the day: NTV's critical coverage of Russia's second war in Chechnya and of the government of President Vladimir Putin, who had taken office in May 2000.	June 20, 2024 Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR. Robert Fico. Sustained. Issue of the day: Fico's government accused RTVS of one-sided, activist coverage against it, a complaint it made after RTVS reporting the government considered unfavorable during Fico's return to power in late 2023.	March 17, 1950 South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals. Daniel François Malan. Reversed. Issue of the day: South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.	July 31, 1980 South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls. Chun Doo-hwan. Reversed. Issue of the day: Chun Doo-hwan's military government had just suppressed a pro-democracy uprising centered in the city of Kwangju in May 1980, and used the purge to remove journalists it associated with resistance to press press controls during that period.	March 16, 2018 Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee. John Magufuli. Unknown. Issue of the day: A broader push under President Magufuli's government to regulate online speech and civic activity ahead of Tanzania's 2020 general election cycle.	July 27, 2016 Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Sustained. Issue of the day: The failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt against President Erdogan's government and the mass arrests and dismissals that followed against alleged participants and sympathizers.	October 1988 United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices. Margaret Thatcher. Reversed. Issue of the day: Violence linked to the conflict in Northern Ireland, often called the Troubles, continued through the 1980s, and the British government wanted to deny paramilitary-linked political figures what it considered a broadcasting platform.	September 17, 2025 United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025. Donald Trump. Reversed. Issue of the day: Jimmy Kimmel's on-air remarks about speculation over the motives of the person who killed Charlie Kirk, according to NPR.	March 15, 2002 Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses. Robert Mugabe. Unknown. Issue of the day: Zimbabwe's contested March 2002 presidential election, in which President Mugabe faced international criticism over the vote's conduct.
Prior restraint		1939 Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers. Getúlio Vargas. Reversed. Issue of the day: Vargas had ruled by decree since 1937 under the Estado Novo and used the DIP to promote his government's program and nationalist agenda while suppressing coverage critical of his rule.							June 26, 1975 India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency. Indira Gandhi. Reversed. Issue of the day: A court had found Prime Minister Gandhi guilty of election malpractice shortly before the Emergency began, and her government cited threats to internal stability in declaring the state of emergency and imposing press press controls the next day.			1922 Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication. Vladimir Lenin. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The new Soviet government, having just consolidated power after years of revolution and civil war, sought a single, centrally controlled system to replace the uncoordinated military and civilian press controls bodies it had inherited.		March 17, 1950 South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals. Daniel François Malan. Reversed. Issue of the day: South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.				October 1988 United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices. Margaret Thatcher. Reversed. Issue of the day: Violence linked to the conflict in Northern Ireland, often called the Troubles, continued through the 1980s, and the British government wanted to deny paramilitary-linked political figures what it considered a broadcasting platform.
Secrets and espionage laws							December 15, 2025 China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026. John Lee. Sustained
Funding and ownership pressure	March 4, 2024 Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam. Javier Milei. Sustained. Issue of the day: Milei had campaigned against what he called wasteful and politically one-sided state spending, and Telam, founded in 1945, had long been associated with the governments of the Kirchner political movement he defeated in the 2023 election.		September 4, 2017 Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill. Hun Sen. Sustained. Issue of the day: Preparations for Cambodia's 2018 general election and a wider government campaign against independent media and civil-society groups seen as sympathetic to the opposition.	May 24, 1960 Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country. Gamal Abdel Nasser. Ongoing. Issue of the day: Nasser's government was consolidating state control over Egypt's economy and institutions in the years following the 1952 revolution, and extended that control to the press as an instrument of its nationalist program.				December 21, 2010 Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage. Viktor Orban. Sustained. Issue of the day: The incoming Fidesz government's broader effort, after its April 2010 election win, to restructure Hungary's state institutions, including media regulation.				April 14, 2001 State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network. Vladimir Putin. Sustained. Issue of the day: NTV's critical coverage of Russia's second war in Chechnya and of the government of President Vladimir Putin, who had taken office in May 2000.	June 20, 2024 Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR. Robert Fico. Sustained. Issue of the day: Fico's government accused RTVS of one-sided, activist coverage against it, a complaint it made after RTVS reporting the government considered unfavorable during Fico's return to power in late 2023.			March 16, 2018 Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee. John Magufuli. Unknown. Issue of the day: A broader push under President Magufuli's government to regulate online speech and civic activity ahead of Tanzania's 2020 general election cycle.			September 17, 2025 United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025. Donald Trump. Reversed. Issue of the day: Jimmy Kimmel's on-air remarks about speculation over the motives of the person who killed Charlie Kirk, according to NPR.
Detention and violence					September 3, 2025 Ethiopia arrests at least six journalists including Sheger FM staff over election-year coverage. Abiy Ahmed. Ongoing. Issue of the day: The arrests came ahead of Ethiopia's national elections scheduled for 2026, after the Ethiopian Media Authority ordered Sheger FM to remove an August 29, 2025 broadcast it said was one-sided and incited violence.		December 15, 2025 China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026. John Lee. Sustained			March 8, 2021 Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup. Min Aung Hlaing. Sustained. Issue of the day: The outlets had been covering nationwide protests against the military's February 1, 2021 seizure of power from Myanmar's elected government, coverage the junta sought to stop by removing the outlets' legal authorization to operate.				March 17, 1950 South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals. Daniel François Malan. Reversed. Issue of the day: South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.	July 31, 1980 South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls. Chun Doo-hwan. Reversed. Issue of the day: Chun Doo-hwan's military government had just suppressed a pro-democracy uprising centered in the city of Kwangju in May 1980, and used the purge to remove journalists it associated with resistance to press press controls during that period.
Official labels											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.

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