Country
United States
Government actions against journalists in the United States
RSF 2026 rank: 64th 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.
The United States is in Northern America, North America. The record holds 73 incidents in which the government of the United States, or an official, court or legislature there, limited journalists' ability to report.
The United States chapter: the situation in 2025 and 2026, the record from 1917 to 2019, and where each tactic in use now has led in other countries.
Tactics used
- Access bans: 22 incidents · ladder
- Secrets and espionage laws: 16 incidents · ladder
- Surveillance and subpoenas: 16 incidents · ladder
- Detention and violence: 11 incidents · ladder
- Funding and ownership pressure: 10 incidents · ladder
- Prior restraint: 9 incidents · ladder
- Lawsuits against the press: 7 incidents · ladder
- Credential control: 6 incidents · ladder
- Shutdowns and blocking: 3 incidents · ladder
- Insult and defamation laws: 2 incidents · ladder
- Official labels: 1 incident · ladder
- Expulsion and visa denial: 1 incident · ladder
- Licensing and closure of outlets: 1 incident · ladder
Heads of government at the time
- Donald Trump: 27 incidents
- Barack Obama: 6 incidents
- Richard Nixon: 4 incidents
- Woodrow Wilson: 4 incidents
- George H. W. Bush: 3 incidents
- Ronald Reagan: 3 incidents
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: 2 incidents
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: 2 incidents
- George W. Bush: 2 incidents
- Jeff Landry: 2 incidents
- Joe Biden: 2 incidents
- Alfred E. Smith: 1 incident
- Bob Martinez: 1 incident
- Doug Ducey: 1 incident
- Eurith D. Rivers: 1 incident
- Hugh L. White: 1 incident
- J. James Exon: 1 incident
- Jacob Frey: 1 incident
- John Patterson: 1 incident
- Karen Bass: 1 incident
- Laura Kelly: 1 incident
- Oscar K. Allen: 1 incident
- Price Daniel: 1 incident
- Ron DeSantis: 1 incident
- Theodore Christianson: 1 incident
- Theodore Roosevelt: 1 incident
- Tim Walz: 1 incident
Incidents by year
2026
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 2026 | CNN, MS NOW, Politico hard passes deactivated, 2026 | Access bans | Restrict | Donald Trump | Ongoing (21 September 2026) |
| 10 July 2026 | Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reporting | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Donald Trump | Reversed (17 July 2026) |
| 28 April 2026 | Appeals court orders FCC to respond to challenge over 'news distortion' policy | Funding and ownership pressure | Pressure | Donald Trump | Ongoing (28 April 2026) |
2025
2024
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 December 2024 | Trump sues Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer over final Iowa poll | Lawsuits against the press | Pressure | Donald Trump | Ongoing (10 July 2026) |
| 24 May 2024 | United States (Louisiana): 25-foot buffer zone law around police officers, May 2024 | Access bans | Restrict | Jeff Landry | Ongoing (31 January 2025) |
2023
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2023 | Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in Kansas | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Laura Kelly | Reversed (5 August 2024) |
| 21 July 2023 | Federal court strikes down Arizona's law banning recording police within 8 feet | Access bans | Restrict | Doug Ducey | Reversed (21 July 2023) |
2021
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 November 2021 | FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigation | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Joe Biden | Unknown |
| 19 July 2021 | Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email records | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Joe Biden | Reversed (25 April 2025) |
2020
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 2020 | Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release | Prior restraint | Restrict | Donald Trump | Unknown |
| 23 July 2020 | Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop | Access bans | Punish | Donald Trump | Reversed (23 July 2020) |
| 29 May 2020 | Minneapolis police projectile permanently blinds photojournalist Linda Tirado | Detention and violence | Punish | Jacob Frey | Sustained (26 May 2022) |
| 29 May 2020 | Minnesota State Patrol arrests CNN crew live on air in Minneapolis | Detention and violence | Punish | Tim Walz | Reversed (29 May 2020) |
2019
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 May 2019 | United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Donald Trump | Reversed (25 June 2024) |
2018
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November 2018 | White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President Trump | Credential control | Restrict | Donald Trump | Reversed (19 November 2018) |
| 7 November 2018 | United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018 | Credential control | Restrict | Donald Trump | Reversed (19 November 2018) |
2014
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 October 2014 | United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Barack Obama | Reversed (17 October 2014) |
2013
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 October 2013 | United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013 | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Barack Obama | Unknown |
| 20 May 2013 | United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Barack Obama | Sustained (12 July 2013) |
| 13 May 2013 | United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Barack Obama | Sustained (12 July 2013) |
| 25 January 2013 | United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalist | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Barack Obama | Upheld by a court (3 February 2015) |
2010
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 July 2010 | United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Barack Obama | Reversed (17 January 2017) |
2005
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 July 2005 | New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | George W. Bush | Upheld by a court (29 September 2005) |
2003
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 February 2003 | Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq | Access bans | Restrict | George W. Bush | Sustained (14 April 2003) |
1991
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 January 1991 | United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf War | Access bans | Restrict | George H. W. Bush | Sustained (28 February 1991) |
1990
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 November 1990 | United States federal court bars CNN from broadcasting recordings of Manuel Noriega's calls with his lawyers | Prior restraint | Silence | George H. W. Bush | Upheld by a court (18 November 1990) |
| 21 March 1990 | United States Supreme Court strikes down Florida law barring a reporter from discussing his own grand jury testimony | Secrets and espionage laws | Silence | Bob Martinez | Reversed (21 March 1990) |
1989
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 December 1989 | United States: Pentagon press pool kept from the opening hours of the Panama invasion, December 1989 | Access bans | Restrict | George H. W. Bush | Ongoing (6 April 1990) |
1985
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | United States: Espionage Act conviction of Samuel Loring Morison for leaking satellite photographs to Jane's Defence Weekly, 1985 to 1988 | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Ronald Reagan | Upheld by a court (1 January 1988) |
1983
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 October 1983 | United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada | Access bans | Restrict | Ronald Reagan | Reversed (1 April 1985) |
1975
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 October 1975 | United States judge bars the press from reporting a murder suspect's confession before trial | Prior restraint | Silence | J. James Exon | Reversed (30 June 1976) |
1971
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1971 | United States: Nixon White House "enemies list" naming journalists, September 1971 | Surveillance and subpoenas | Pressure | Richard Nixon | Unknown |
| 16 August 1971 | Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure | Surveillance and subpoenas | Pressure | Richard Nixon | Reversed (27 June 1973) |
| 15 June 1971 | United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers | Prior restraint | Silence | Richard Nixon | Reversed (30 June 1971) |
| 12 April 1971 | United States police search a student newspaper's offices for photographs of a protest | Surveillance and subpoenas | Pressure | Ronald Reagan | Upheld by a court (31 May 1978) |
1969
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenas | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Richard Nixon | Upheld by a court (29 June 1972) |
1962
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 1962 | United States: Texas judge allows televised pretrial hearing in the Billie Sol Estes case; Supreme Court later limits cameras in criminal courtrooms | Access bans | Restrict | Price Daniel | Reversed (7 June 1965) |
1960
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | United States: Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New York Times for libel over a civil rights advertisement | Lawsuits against the press | Punish | John Patterson | Reversed (9 March 1964) |
1955
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1955 | United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist ties | Surveillance and subpoenas | Punish | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Sustained (1 December 1956) |
| 19 September 1955 | United States: Tallahatchie County, Mississippi sheriff segregates Black reporters at the Emmett Till murder trial, September 1955 | Access bans | Restrict | Hugh L. White | Sustained |
1953
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | United States: Senator Joseph McCarthy's subcommittee questions New York Post editor James Wechsler, 1953 | Surveillance and subpoenas | Pressure | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Unknown |
1942
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1942 | United States: Justice Department investigates the Chicago Tribune under the Espionage Act over Battle of Midway coverage | Secrets and espionage laws | Pressure | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Reversed (1 August 1942) |
1941
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 December 1941 | United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press | Prior restraint | Pressure | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Sustained (28 September 1945) |
1938
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 March 1938 | United States: Supreme Court strikes down a Georgia city's permit requirement for distributing literature, 1938 | Prior restraint | Silence | Eurith D. Rivers | Reversed (28 March 1938) |
1934
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 July 1934 | United States: Louisiana taxes large newspapers' advertising revenue; the tax is struck down in Grosjean v. American Press Co. | Funding and ownership pressure | Pressure | Oscar K. Allen | Reversed (10 February 1936) |
1927
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | Minnesota closes The Saturday Press in 1927; the Supreme Court strikes down the law in 1931 | Prior restraint | Silence | Theodore Christianson | Reversed (1 June 1931) |
1925
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 June 1925 | United States: Supreme Court upholds Benjamin Gitlow's conviction under New York's Criminal Anarchy Law, 1925 | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Alfred E. Smith | Upheld by a court (8 June 1925) |
1918
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 June 1918 | United States convicts newspaper editor Jacob Frohwerk under the Espionage Act, June 1918 | Secrets and espionage laws | Punish | Woodrow Wilson | Upheld by a court (10 March 1919) |
1917
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1917 | United States postmaster bars the magazine The Masses from the mail under the Espionage Act | Secrets and espionage laws | Silence | Woodrow Wilson | Upheld by a court (1 November 1917) |
| 1917 | United States convicts Mother Earth editor Emma Goldman of draft conspiracy and bars her magazine from the mail | Detention and violence | Punish | Woodrow Wilson | Upheld by a court (14 January 1918) |
| 1917 | United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate | Shutdowns and blocking | Silence | Woodrow Wilson | Upheld by a court (7 March 1921) |
1909
| Date | Incident | Tactic | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 March 1909 | United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reporting | Insult and defamation laws | Punish | Theodore Roosevelt | Reversed (3 January 1911) |
Ladders: where each tactic has led · Timeline for United States · North America