Country
Saudi Arabia
Government actions against journalists in Saudi Arabia
RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180. World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF); rank 1 is the freest.
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
Saudi Arabia is in Western Asia, Asia. The record holds 2 incidents in which the government of Saudi Arabia, or an official, court or legislature there, limited journalists' ability to report.
Tactics used
Heads of government at the time
Incidents by year
2018
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 October 2018 | Saudi Arabia's government kills journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate | Detention and violence | Eliminate | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Unknown |
| 1 October 2018 | Saudi Arabia: spyware on an associate's phone precedes Jamal Khashoggi's killing by one day | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Unknown (1 October 2018) |
Ladders: where each tactic has led · Timeline for Saudi Arabia · Asia