Era
The 1980s
Government actions against journalists, 1980 to 1989
12 recorded incidents dated 1980 to 1989, by continent and region.
Africa
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 November 1985 | South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency | South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | P. W. Botha | Reversed (1 June 1990) |
Asia
Eastern Asia
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 1980 | South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls | South Korea (RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Chun Doo-hwan | Reversed (1 June 1987) |
| 14 June 1989 | China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests | China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Li Peng | Sustained (1 January 1990) |
South-eastern Asia
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Malaysia: Printing Presses and Publications Act amended to bar court review of publishing permits, 1987 | Malaysia (RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Mahathir Mohamad | Sustained |
| 18 September 1988 | Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power | Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180) | Prior restraint | Saw Maung | Ongoing (1 January 1989) |
Europe
Eastern Europe
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 December 1981 | Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight | Poland (RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Wojciech Jaruzelski | Reversed (22 July 1983) |
| 30 August 1986 | Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986 | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Detention and violence | Mikhail Gorbachev | Reversed (29 September 1986) |
Northern Europe
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1988 | United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Margaret Thatcher | Reversed (16 September 1994) |
North America
Caribbean
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile | Haiti (RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Jean-Claude Duvalier | Reversed (1 February 1986) |
Northern America
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 October 1983 | United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | Ronald Reagan | Reversed (1 April 1985) |
| 1985 | United States: Espionage Act conviction of Samuel Loring Morison for leaking satellite photographs to Jane's Defence Weekly, 1985 to 1988 | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Ronald Reagan | Upheld by a court (1 January 1988) |
| 20 December 1989 | United States: Pentagon press pool kept from the opening hours of the Panama invasion, December 1989 | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | George H. W. Bush | Ongoing (6 April 1990) |