{ "decade": "2000s", "from": "2000-01-01", "to": "2009-12-31", "count": 6, "groups": [ { "continent": "africa", "region": "Eastern Africa", "incidents": [ { "slug": "2002-zimbabwe-aippa-media-licensing", "title": "Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses", "occurred_on": "2002-03-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "ZW", "country_name": "Zimbabwe", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "ZW", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "robert-mugabe", "leader_name": "Robert Mugabe", "issue_of_the_day": "Zimbabwe's contested March 2002 presidential election, in which President Mugabe faced international criticism over the vote's conduct.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The record reviewed documents a 2007 amendment easing individual accreditation but does not establish to day precision when AIPPA's licensing framework was repealed.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 124, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Zimbabwe's parliament passed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), requiring every journalist and media company to obtain a government license renewed every two years, weeks before a closely contested 2002 presidential election.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2002-zimbabwe-aippa-media-licensing" } ] }, { "continent": "asia", "region": "Southern Asia", "incidents": [ { "slug": "2009-iran-post-election-foreign-press-restrictions", "title": "Iran expels a BBC correspondent and restricts foreign journalists after a disputed 2009 election", "occurred_on": "2009-06-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IR", "country_name": "Iran", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "mahmoud-ahmadinejad", "leader_name": "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad", "issue_of_the_day": "Iran's disputed June 12, 2009 presidential election and the mass protests that followed allegations the vote was rigged for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The sources reviewed do not establish when Iran lifted the specific 2009 restrictions on foreign correspondents covering the post-election protests.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 177, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After Iran's disputed June 2009 presidential election produced mass protests, the government expelled BBC correspondent Jon Leyne, revoked foreign press credentials, confined most foreign journalists to office-based reporting, and blocked access to numerous websites.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-iran-post-election-foreign-press-restrictions" } ] }, { "continent": "europe", "region": "Eastern Europe", "incidents": [ { "slug": "2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv", "title": "State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network", "occurred_on": "2001-04-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "issue_of_the_day": "NTV's critical coverage of Russia's second war in Chechnya and of the government of President Vladimir Putin, who had taken office in May 2000.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2001-04-14", "outcome_note": "The takeover was not reversed; most of NTV's original staff resigned in the following weeks rather than work under the new management.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv" }, { "slug": "2006-russia-politkovskaya-killed", "title": "Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya is shot dead in Moscow; a former police officer is later convicted of organizing the killing", "occurred_on": "2006-10-07", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "issue_of_the_day": "Politkovskaya's investigative reporting on human-rights abuses in Chechnya and her criticism of the Russian government's conduct there.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2014-06-09", "outcome_note": "Courts convicted and sentenced five men, including former police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, for organizing or carrying out the killing; who ordered it was never conclusively established in court.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "Who ordered the killing was never conclusively established in court.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 172, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta journalist known for reporting critical of Russia's conduct of the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in her Moscow apartment building; a Moscow court later convicted a former police officer of organizing surveillance for her killers.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2006-russia-politkovskaya-killed" } ] }, { "continent": "north-america", "region": "Northern America", "incidents": [ { "slug": "2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq", "title": "Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq", "occurred_on": "2003-02-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The buildup to and launch of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2003-04-14", "outcome_note": "The embedding program ran through the invasion and became the Pentagon's standard model for media access in later conflicts.", "stage": "restrict", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon assigned about 600 journalists to travel with United States military units under written ground rules restricting what they could report about troop numbers, operations and casualties.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq" }, { "slug": "2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source", "title": "New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair", "occurred_on": "2005-07-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The Bush administration's case for the 2003 Iraq War and the public dispute over former ambassador Joseph Wilson's contrary account of Iraqi uranium claims.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2005-09-29", "outcome_note": "Courts upheld the contempt order and subpoena; Miller served 85 days before her source freed her to testify, and prosecutors later convicted Libby of perjury.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A federal judge jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to tell a grand jury who told her the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, part of a special counsel's investigation into the leak.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/eras/2000s?format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/eras/2000s.json", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/eras/2000s.md" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }