{
  "title": "Incidents in Africa, stage: silence",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=africa&stage=silence&view=cards",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa",
    "stage": "silence",
    "view": "cards"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 6,
  "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": "ET",
        "label": "Ethiopia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 148,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 148th 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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "TZ",
        "label": "Tanzania",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 117,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "ZW",
        "label": "Zimbabwe",
        "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"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
        "label": "Shutdowns and blocking",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "access_ban",
        "label": "Access bans",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "label": "Funding and ownership pressure",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 6
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "state_or_province",
        "label": "State or province",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknown",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "abiy-ahmed",
        "label": "Abiy Ahmed"
      },
      {
        "value": "daniel-francois-malan",
        "label": "Daniel François Malan"
      },
      {
        "value": "gamal-abdel-nasser",
        "label": "Gamal Abdel Nasser"
      },
      {
        "value": "p-w-botha",
        "label": "P. W. Botha"
      },
      {
        "value": "robert-mugabe",
        "label": "Robert Mugabe"
      },
      {
        "value": "samia-suluhu-hassan",
        "label": "Samia Suluhu Hassan"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2000s",
        "label": "2000s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1980s",
        "label": "1980s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1960s",
        "label": "1960s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1950s",
        "label": "1950s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1950",
        "label": "1950",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1960",
        "label": "1960",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1985",
        "label": "1985",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2003",
        "label": "2003",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2020",
        "label": "2020",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 6
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-tanzania-internet-shutdown-election-day",
      "title": "Tanzania shuts down internet access on election day amid unrest",
      "occurred_on": "2025-10-29",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "TZ",
      "country_name": "Tanzania",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "TZ",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "samia-suluhu-hassan",
      "leader_name": "Samia Suluhu Hassan",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The shutdown coincided with a disputed general election and protests against President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government, which Human Rights Watch later said was followed by killings and broader restrictions once the results were announced.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Authorities did not explain the shutdown, and disruptions to social platforms continued for several days after the vote.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 117,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Tanzania's government restricted internet and social-media access on October 29, 2025, as citizens voted in a general election marked by protests, cutting national internet traffic by nearly 90 percent and leaving both local and foreign journalists unable to report on the vote and its aftermath in real time.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tanzania-internet-shutdown-election-day"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2020-ethiopia-tigray-internet-blackout",
      "title": "Ethiopia: internet and phone service cut across Tigray",
      "occurred_on": "2020-11-04",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "ET",
      "country_name": "Ethiopia",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ET",
      "level": "state_or_province",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "abiy-ahmed",
      "leader_name": "Abiy Ahmed",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2021-05-03",
      "outcome_note": "As of the May 2021 source, service had been only partially restored in the regional capital and surrounding areas.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "Ethiopia cut internet and phone service to an entire region for months during a civil war, leaving reporters unable to confirm events without traveling there in person; no United States action in the record has cut off a region's communications.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 148,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Ethiopia's government cut internet and telephone service across the Tigray region when war broke out there in November 2020, leaving the region without communication for months and forcing reporters to travel there to learn what was happening.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-ethiopia-tigray-internet-blackout"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2003-zimbabwe-daily-news-shut-down",
      "title": "Zimbabwe: police close the Daily News under the media registration law",
      "occurred_on": "2003-09-12",
      "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": "The closure came amid a wider campaign by President Robert Mugabe's government against independent media following the contested 2002 presidential election.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "2010-05-27",
      "outcome_note": "Zimbabwe's Media Commission granted the Daily News a new publishing license on May 27, 2010, nearly seven years after the closure.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "The country's largest independent newspaper was shut by police and kept off newsstands for nearly seven years, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
      "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": "granular",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled the Daily News, the country's largest independent newspaper, was operating unregistered under a 2002 media law, and police shut its offices the next day; the paper stayed closed for nearly seven years.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-zimbabwe-daily-news-shut-down"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1985-south-africa-state-of-emergency-media-ban",
      "title": "South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency",
      "occurred_on": "1985-11-02",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZA",
      "country_name": "South Africa",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZA",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "p-w-botha",
      "leader_name": "P. W. Botha",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Unrest against apartheid had spread through South Africa's Black townships through 1985, and the government's emergency regulations applied to the television and photographic coverage that had brought international attention to the violence.",
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "1990-06-01",
      "outcome_note": "South Africa's state of emergency and its media restrictions ended in June 1990 as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.",
      "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": "1980s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Under a state of emergency State President P. W. Botha had declared in July 1985, the government banned television, radio and photographic coverage of unrest in South Africa's Black townships on November 2, 1985, requiring print journalists to report only under police escort.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1985-south-africa-state-of-emergency-media-ban"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press",
      "title": "Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country",
      "occurred_on": "1960-05-24",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "EG",
      "country_name": "Egypt",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "EG",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "gamal-abdel-nasser",
      "leader_name": "Gamal Abdel Nasser",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Nasser's government was consolidating state control over Egypt's economy and institutions in the years following the 1952 revolution, and extended that control to the press as an instrument of its nationalist program.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "1989-01-01",
      "outcome_note": "State ownership structures created by the 1960 decree, including the government-appointed leadership of major papers such as Al-Ahram, remained in place through the 1980s.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "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": "1960s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "President Gamal Abdel Nasser's government issued a decree on May 24, 1960 placing every newspaper and magazine in Egypt under state ownership and management, with the government appointing editors and deciding content, ending private control of the country's press.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press"
    },
    {
      "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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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}