{
  "iso2": "GB",
  "name": "United Kingdom",
  "continent": "europe",
  "region": "Northern Europe",
  "press_freedom": {
    "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
    "rank": 18,
    "year": 2026,
    "of": 180,
    "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
    "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
  },
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "incident_count": 2,
  "tactics": [
    {
      "slug": "detention_and_violence",
      "name": "Detention and violence",
      "count": 1,
      "ladder_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/detention_and_violence"
    },
    {
      "slug": "outlet_licensing",
      "name": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
      "count": 1,
      "ladder_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing"
    },
    {
      "slug": "prior_restraint",
      "name": "Prior restraint",
      "count": 1,
      "ladder_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint"
    },
    {
      "slug": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
      "name": "Surveillance and subpoenas",
      "count": 1,
      "ladder_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas"
    }
  ],
  "leaders": [
    {
      "slug": "david-cameron",
      "name": "David Cameron",
      "count": 1,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/david-cameron"
    },
    {
      "slug": "margaret-thatcher",
      "name": "Margaret Thatcher",
      "count": 1,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/margaret-thatcher"
    }
  ],
  "incidents_by_year": {
    "1988": [
      {
        "slug": "1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein",
        "title": "United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices",
        "occurred_on": "1988-10-01",
        "occurred_on_precision": "month",
        "country": "GB",
        "country_name": "United Kingdom",
        "continent": "europe",
        "jurisdiction": "GB",
        "level": "national",
        "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
        "tactics": [
          "outlet_licensing",
          "prior_restraint"
        ],
        "leader_slug": "margaret-thatcher",
        "leader_name": "Margaret Thatcher",
        "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.",
        "outcome": "reversed",
        "outcome_on": "1994-09-16",
        "outcome_note": "The broadcasting ban was lifted on September 16, 1994, shortly after the Irish Republican Army's August 1994 ceasefire declaration.",
        "stage": "silence",
        "ladder_note": null,
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 18,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        },
        "era": "1980s",
        "granularity": "anchor",
        "status": "historical",
        "case_count": 0,
        "summary": "Home Secretary Douglas Hurd directed British broadcasters in October 1988 not to air the voices of representatives of Sinn Féin, a party linked to the Irish Republican Army, and other groups linked to violence in Northern Ireland. Broadcasters got around it by having actors read transcripts of the same interviews.",
        "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein"
      }
    ],
    "2013": [
      {
        "slug": "2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives",
        "title": "United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden files",
        "occurred_on": "2013-08-18",
        "occurred_on_precision": "day",
        "country": "GB",
        "country_name": "United Kingdom",
        "continent": "europe",
        "jurisdiction": "GB",
        "level": "national",
        "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
        "tactics": [
          "detention_and_violence",
          "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
        ],
        "leader_slug": "david-cameron",
        "leader_name": "David Cameron",
        "issue_of_the_day": "The Guardian's 2013 reporting, based on files leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, on mass surveillance by the United States and United Kingdom.",
        "outcome": "upheld",
        "outcome_on": "2016-01-19",
        "outcome_note": "The Court of Appeal ruled in January 2016 that Miranda's detention itself was lawful, but found Schedule 7's stop powers incompatible with press-freedom protections for journalistic material generally.",
        "stage": "punish",
        "ladder_note": null,
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 18,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        },
        "era": "2010s",
        "granularity": "anchor",
        "status": "historical",
        "case_count": 0,
        "summary": "British authorities detained David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours at Heathrow Airport under anti-terrorism powers, and separately had Guardian staff destroy hard drives holding files leaked by Edward Snowden rather than hand them to a court.",
        "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives"
      }
    ]
  },
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb?format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb.json",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb.md"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}