Compare: who did what, when: prior restraint

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, 10 tactics, 14 countries.

Tactics by country
Tactic	Argentina	Australia	Brazil	Czechia	India	Israel	Myanmar	Philippines	Portugal	Russia	South Africa	Spain	United Kingdom	United States
Access bans														February 10, 2003 Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq. George W. Bush. Sustained. Issue of the day: The buildup to and launch of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. September 19, 2025 United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025. Donald Trump. Ongoing
Credential control												April 1938 Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law. Francisco Franco. Reversed. Issue of the day: Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.		September 19, 2025 United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025. Donald Trump. Ongoing
Licensing and closure of outlets			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.
Prior restraint	March 24, 1976 Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents. Jorge Rafael Videla. Reversed. Issue of the day: Argentina's military had just overthrown the elected government and moved immediately to prevent reporting sympathetic to leftist groups it had outlawed or reporting it considered damaging to the armed forces' standing.	April 16, 1944 Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules. John Curtin. Reversed. Issue of the day: Australia remained at war in the Pacific in 1944, and its wartime press controls apparatus, already the subject of tension with newspaper proprietors, moved against the Sunday Telegraph for material it judged to breach the press controls rules.	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.	August 21, 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controls. Alexander Dubček. Reversed. Issue of the day: Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring reforms, including eased press press controls, had alarmed the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, who invaded to reverse the liberalization before it could spread further.	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. February 14, 2023 Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban. Narendra Modi. Unknown. Issue of the day: The searches followed the government's ban, weeks earlier, of the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question,' which examined Modi's record as Gujarat's chief minister during 2002 riots that killed mostly Muslims. 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.	1948 Israel retains a British-era law giving the military the power to review and restrict the press. David Ben-Gurion. Ongoing. Issue of the day: Israel's 1948 declaration of independence and the war that followed created an immediate perceived security need, which the retained British-era Press Ordinance and later Editors' Committee arrangement were meant to address by keeping military information out of print.	September 18, 1988 Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power. Saw Maung. Ongoing. Issue of the day: SLORC had just taken power after crushing the August 1988 pro-democracy uprising, sometimes called 8888 for its start date, and used the Press Scrutiny Board to prevent coverage sympathetic to the uprising or critical of military rule.	September 21, 1972 Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law. Ferdinand Marcos. Reversed. Issue of the day: Marcos had declared martial law citing threats from Communist insurgency and civil unrest, and moved immediately to eliminate independent media coverage that might question the declaration or his expanding powers.	1933 Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press press controls under a new constitution. António de Oliveira Salazar. Reversed. Issue of the day: Salazar's government was consolidating the Estado Novo behind a new 1933 constitution, and used the moment to formalize a system of press press controls it had for years denied operating.	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.	April 1938 Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law. Francisco Franco. Reversed. Issue of the day: Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.	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.	1927 United States Supreme Court strikes down a Minnesota law used to shut a newspaper. Theodore Christianson. Reversed. Issue of the day: The Saturday Press had run articles accusing Minneapolis officials, police and a local gangster of corruption and racketeering, allegations the county attorney treated as scandalous and defamatory under the state's 1925 nuisance law. December 19, 1941 United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sustained. Issue of the day: The United States had just entered the Second World War after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the government wanted to prevent newspapers and broadcasters from unintentionally publishing information useful to enemy forces. June 15, 1971 United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers. Richard Nixon. Reversed. Issue of the day: The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history. February 10, 2003 Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq. George W. Bush. Sustained. Issue of the day: The buildup to and launch of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. September 12, 2020 Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release. Donald Trump. Unknown. Issue of the day: The reporting concerned the CDC's coronavirus testing guidance and its weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report during the summer and fall of 2020, as the Trump administration sought to align public messaging with the president's own statements about the pandemic. September 19, 2025 United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025. Donald Trump. Ongoing
Secrets and espionage laws														December 19, 1941 United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sustained. Issue of the day: The United States had just entered the Second World War after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the government wanted to prevent newspapers and broadcasters from unintentionally publishing information useful to enemy forces. June 15, 1971 United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers. Richard Nixon. Reversed. Issue of the day: The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history.
Insult and defamation laws												April 1938 Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law. Francisco Franco. Reversed. Issue of the day: Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.
Surveillance and subpoenas					February 14, 2023 Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban. Narendra Modi. Unknown. Issue of the day: The searches followed the government's ban, weeks earlier, of the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question,' which examined Modi's record as Gujarat's chief minister during 2002 riots that killed mostly Muslims.
Shutdowns and blocking		April 16, 1944 Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules. John Curtin. Reversed. Issue of the day: Australia remained at war in the Pacific in 1944, and its wartime press controls apparatus, already the subject of tension with newspaper proprietors, moved against the Sunday Telegraph for material it judged to breach the press controls rules.		August 21, 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controls. Alexander Dubček. Reversed. Issue of the day: Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring reforms, including eased press press controls, had alarmed the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, who invaded to reverse the liberalization before it could spread further.				September 21, 1972 Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law. Ferdinand Marcos. Reversed. Issue of the day: Marcos had declared martial law citing threats from Communist insurgency and civil unrest, and moved immediately to eliminate independent media coverage that might question the declaration or his expanding powers.
Detention and violence	March 24, 1976 Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents. Jorge Rafael Videla. Reversed. Issue of the day: Argentina's military had just overthrown the elected government and moved immediately to prevent reporting sympathetic to leftist groups it had outlawed or reporting it considered damaging to the armed forces' standing.						September 18, 1988 Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power. Saw Maung. Ongoing. Issue of the day: SLORC had just taken power after crushing the August 1988 pro-democracy uprising, sometimes called 8888 for its start date, and used the Press Scrutiny Board to prevent coverage sympathetic to the uprising or critical of military rule.	September 21, 1972 Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law. Ferdinand Marcos. Reversed. Issue of the day: Marcos had declared martial law citing threats from Communist insurgency and civil unrest, and moved immediately to eliminate independent media coverage that might question the declaration or his expanding powers.			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.
Official labels					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.

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