{
  "title": "Incidents: prior restraint in Africa, national level",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=africa&tactic=prior_restraint&level=national",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa",
    "tactic": "prior_restraint",
    "level": "national"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 2,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "EG",
        "label": "Egypt",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 169,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "ZA",
        "label": "South Africa",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 21,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
        "label": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi"
      },
      {
        "value": "daniel-francois-malan",
        "label": "Daniel François Malan"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1950s",
        "label": "1950s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1950",
        "label": "1950",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2018",
        "label": "2018",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 2
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa",
      "title": "Egypt: a license requirement leaves an independent news site unable to operate legally for years",
      "occurred_on": "2018-10-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "EG",
      "country_name": "Egypt",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "EG",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
      "tactics": [
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
      "leader_name": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The licensing requirement operated alongside a 2018 cybercrime law that made it a crime to use certain software tools without the council's permission, according to Al-Manassa's editor.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2020-10-26",
      "outcome_note": "Al-Manassa's editor said the outlet's 2018 license application had received no response as of the October 2020 interview.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": "A national council required a license before a news site could operate at all and left the application unanswered for years rather than approving, denying or fining it.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 169,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2010s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation required news websites to obtain a government license to operate, and independent outlet Al-Manassa's application, filed in 2018, went unanswered for more than two years.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act",
      "title": "South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals",
      "occurred_on": "1950-07-17",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZA",
      "country_name": "South Africa",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZA",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "outlet_licensing",
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "daniel-francois-malan",
      "leader_name": "Daniel François Malan",
      "issue_of_the_day": "South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1991-07-31",
      "outcome_note": "The \"Internal Security and Intimidation Amendment Act\" repealed section 55 of the Suppression of Communism Act, which had prohibited furthering the aims of communism, on July 31, 1991; broader banning orders under the act and its successors had already been lifted the year before, in February 1990.{c:731}",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 21,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1950s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid. It let the government ban organizations and publications and forbid banned individuals from being quoted at all.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act"
    }
  ],
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    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=africa&tactic=prior_restraint&level=national"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}