{ "title": "Incidents in Europe", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe", "filters": { "continent": "europe" }, "sort": "date", "count": 20, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "RU", "label": "Russia", "count": 5 }, { "value": "HU", "label": "Hungary", "count": 3 }, { "value": "RS", "label": "Serbia", "count": 2 }, { "value": "PL", "label": "Poland", "count": 2 }, { "value": "GB", "label": "United Kingdom", "count": 2 }, { "value": "SK", "label": "Slovakia", "count": 1 }, { "value": "BY", "label": "Belarus", "count": 1 }, { "value": "CZ", "label": "Czechia", "count": 1 }, { "value": "ES", "label": "Spain", "count": 1 }, { "value": "DE", "label": "Germany", "count": 1 }, { "value": "PT", "label": "Portugal", "count": 1 } ], "continent": [ { "value": "europe", "label": "Europe", "count": 20 } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 7 }, { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 6 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 5 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 5 }, { "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "label": "Insult and defamation laws", "count": 4 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 4 }, { "value": "disinformation_labeling", "label": "Official labels", "count": 2 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 2 }, { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 1 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 20 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 8 }, { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 7 }, { "value": "ongoing", "label": "Ongoing", "count": 2 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 2 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 1 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "vladimir-putin", "label": "Vladimir Putin", "count": 4 }, { "value": "viktor-orban", "label": "Viktor Orban", "count": 3 }, { "value": "aleksandar-vucic", "label": "Aleksandar Vucic", "count": 1 }, { "value": "robert-fico", "label": "Robert Fico", "count": 1 }, { "value": "alexander-lukashenko", "label": "Alexander Lukashenko", "count": 1 }, { "value": "beata-szydlo", "label": "Beata Szydlo", "count": 1 }, { "value": "david-cameron", "label": "David Cameron", "count": 1 }, { "value": "slobodan-milosevic", "label": "Slobodan Milosevic", "count": 1 }, { "value": "margaret-thatcher", "label": "Margaret Thatcher", "count": 1 }, { "value": "wojciech-jaruzelski", "label": "Wojciech Jaruzelski", "count": 1 }, { "value": "alexander-dubcek", "label": "Alexander Dubček", "count": 1 }, { "value": "francisco-franco", "label": "Francisco Franco", "count": 1 }, { "value": "adolf-hitler", "label": "Adolf Hitler", "count": 1 }, { "value": "antonio-salazar", "label": "António de Oliveira Salazar", "count": 1 }, { "value": "vladimir-lenin", "label": "Vladimir Lenin", "count": 1 } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 7 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "1930s", "label": "1930s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1990s", "label": "1990s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1960s", "label": "1960s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1920s", "label": "1920s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1922", "label": "1922", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1933", "label": "1933", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1938", "label": "1938", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1968", "label": "1968", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1981", "label": "1981", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1988", "label": "1988", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1998", "label": "1998", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2001", "label": "2001", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2006", "label": "2006", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2015", "label": "2015", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2022", "label": "2022", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 20 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets", "title": "Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled \"foreign agents\", August 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-08-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-08-04", "outcome_note": "Signed and in force on 2026-08-04, according to RSF (s062).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consular services such as passport renewal to Russians in exile who have been designated \"foreign agents\" or who cooperate with organizations Russia has labelled \"undesirable.\" A \"foreign agent\" is a Russian legal designation that places a person or organization on a government register and subjects them to added restrictions. Of those designated, \"the vast majority are journalists,\" according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The law entered into force the same day.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets" }, { "slug": "2025-serbia-police-target-journalists-protests", "title": "Serbian police strike, detain and disarm journalists covering anti-government protests", "occurred_on": "2025-09-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RS", "country_name": "Serbia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RS", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "aleksandar-vucic", "leader_name": "Aleksandar Vucic", "issue_of_the_day": "The protests, which grew through the summer of 2025, followed months of demonstrations against President Aleksandar Vucic's government that began after a deadly railway-station canopy collapse in Novi Sad in late 2024.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The interior ministry did not respond to CPJ's request for comment, and no officer was reported disciplined for the incidents documented.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The Committee to Protect Journalists documented at least 28 Serbian journalists reporting being struck, detained, sprayed with chemical irritants or having their equipment destroyed by police between June and September 2025 while covering nationwide anti-government protests; the interior ministry did not respond to CPJ's request for comment.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-serbia-police-target-journalists-protests" }, { "slug": "2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr", "title": "Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR", "occurred_on": "2024-06-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "SK", "country_name": "Slovakia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "SK", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "robert-fico", "leader_name": "Robert Fico", "issue_of_the_day": "Fico's government accused RTVS of one-sided, activist coverage against it, a complaint it made after RTVS reporting the government considered unfavorable during Fico's return to power in late 2023.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2024-07-04", "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism from the European Union.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr" }, { "slug": "2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act", "title": "Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023", "occurred_on": "2023-12-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "HU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2026-06-30", "outcome_note": "The National Assembly abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office on 2026-06-30, according to CPJ (s055).", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. The law created a Sovereignty Protection Office empowered to investigate organizations, including news outlets, that it determined might be influenced by foreign actors or threaten national sovereignty. A week earlier, ten Hungarian media outlets had said the law \"is capable of severely restricting the freedom of the press.\" After a change of government in 2026, the National Assembly abolished the office on June 30, 2026.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act" }, { "slug": "2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports", "title": "Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison", "occurred_on": "2022-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "issue_of_the_day": "The law followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and was aimed at reporting on the war that differed from the Russian defense ministry's official statements about casualties and military conduct.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The law remained in force; independent outlets that avoided closure continued operating from outside Russia.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Russia's parliament passed a law criminalizing the publication of information about the military that contradicts official statements, with penalties up to 15 years in prison, prompting Novaya Gazeta to pull its Ukraine war coverage and the BBC, CNN and other outlets to suspend operations inside Russia.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports" }, { "slug": "2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff", "title": "Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist'", "occurred_on": "2021-05-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "BY", "country_name": "Belarus", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "BY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko", "leader_name": "Alexander Lukashenko", "issue_of_the_day": "Tut.by had continued reporting on the government's response to protests following the disputed August 2020 presidential election that kept Alexander Lukashenko in power; authorities revoked the outlet's official media registration in January 2021.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Tut.by remained blocked and its former staff continued reporting from exile as Zerkalo; the criminal proceedings against staff continued.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Belarusian authorities blocked access to Tut.by, the country's most-read independent news site, searched its offices in three cities and arrested at least eleven staff, including its editor-in-chief, citing alleged media-law violations after the site had already lost its official media status.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff" }, { "slug": "2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law", "title": "Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers", "occurred_on": "2020-03-30", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "HU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "issue_of_the_day": "The law was passed as Hungary, like much of Europe, entered its first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020; the government said it needed emergency powers to respond quickly to the pandemic.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Hungary's government said it would end Orban's decree powers by June 20, 2020; the false-information provision's later fate was not established.", "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Hungary's parliament passed an emergency coronavirus law allowing prison terms of up to five years for spreading information the government deemed false or distorted about the pandemic, and let Prime Minister Viktor Orban rule by decree for an unlimited period.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law" }, { "slug": "2015-poland-public-media-law-firings", "title": "Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed", "occurred_on": "2015-12-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "beata-szydlo", "leader_name": "Beata Szydlo", "issue_of_the_day": "Law and Justice's decisive October 2015 election win and its stated aim of overhauling public institutions it viewed as insufficiently accountable to voters.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2019-12-31", "outcome_note": "The appointment power and pattern of dismissals continued through the remainder of the PiS government's term; ownership of the public broadcasters changed only after a later change of government.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subsequently dismissed or resigned.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings" }, { "slug": "2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives", "title": "United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden files", "occurred_on": "2013-08-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "GB", "country_name": "United Kingdom", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "GB", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "david-cameron", "leader_name": "David Cameron", "issue_of_the_day": "The Guardian's 2013 reporting, based on files leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, on mass surveillance by the United States and United Kingdom.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2016-01-19", "outcome_note": "The Court of Appeal ruled in January 2016 that Miranda's detention itself was lawful, but found Schedule 7's stop powers incompatible with press-freedom protections for journalistic material generally.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "British authorities detained David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours at Heathrow Airport under anti-terrorism powers, and separately had Guardian staff destroy hard drives holding files leaked by Edward Snowden rather than hand them to a court.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives" }, { "slug": "2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority", "title": "Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage", "occurred_on": "2010-12-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "HU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "issue_of_the_day": "The incoming Fidesz government's broader effort, after its April 2010 election win, to restructure Hungary's state institutions, including media regulation.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2011-01-01", "outcome_note": "The law took effect January 1, 2011, and, after European Union criticism, Hungary amended some provisions in 2011 but kept the media authority's core licensing and fining powers.", "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public morality.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority" }, { "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.", "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" }, { "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.", "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": "1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines", "title": "Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger", "occurred_on": "1998-10-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RS", "country_name": "Serbia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RS", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "leader_slug": "slobodan-milosevic", "leader_name": "Slobodan Milosevic", "issue_of_the_day": "Independent Serbian media's coverage of NATO's escalating confrontation with Yugoslavia over Kosovo through 1998 and 1999.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2001-01-01", "outcome_note": "The law was suspended after Milosevic lost power in October 2000 elections and a change of government in Serbia.", "era": "1990s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily than pro-government ones.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines" }, { "slug": "1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein", "title": "United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices", "occurred_on": "1988-10-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "GB", "country_name": "United Kingdom", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "GB", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "margaret-thatcher", "leader_name": "Margaret Thatcher", "issue_of_the_day": "Violence linked to the conflict in Northern Ireland, often called the Troubles, continued through the 1980s, and the British government wanted to deny paramilitary-linked political figures what it considered a broadcasting platform.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1994-09-16", "outcome_note": "The broadcasting ban was lifted on September 16, 1994, shortly after the Irish Republican Army's August 1994 ceasefire declaration.", "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Home Secretary Douglas Hurd directed British broadcasters in October 1988 not to air the voices of representatives of Sinn Féin, a party linked to the Irish Republican Army, and other groups linked to violence in Northern Ireland. Broadcasters got around it by having actors read transcripts of the same interviews.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein" }, { "slug": "1981-poland-martial-law-press-suspended", "title": "Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight", "occurred_on": "1981-12-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "wojciech-jaruzelski", "leader_name": "Wojciech Jaruzelski", "issue_of_the_day": "Poland's Solidarity trade union movement had grown into a mass challenge to Communist Party rule through 1980 and 1981, and Jaruzelski's government imposed martial law to suppress the movement and the independent press associated with it.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1983-07-22", "outcome_note": "Martial law was formally lifted on July 22, 1983, though reduced press press controls in Poland continued until the fall of Communist rule in 1989.", "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, cutting phone and telex lines, suspending nearly all newspapers, and interning thousands of people, most Solidarity trade union journalists among them, within days.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1981-poland-martial-law-press-suspended" }, { "slug": "1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship", "title": "Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controls", "occurred_on": "1968-08-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CZ", "country_name": "Czechia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "CZ", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "alexander-dubcek", "leader_name": "Alexander Dubček", "issue_of_the_day": "Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring reforms, including eased press press controls, had alarmed the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, who invaded to reverse the liberalization before it could spread further.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1989-11-01", "outcome_note": "Formal press press controls in Czechoslovakia ended with the Velvet Revolution of November 1989, which brought down Communist Party rule.", "era": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on August 20-21, 1968 to end the Prague Spring, a period of liberalization under Alexander Dubček that had included the lifting of press press controls. In the invasion's aftermath, the new leadership reimposed government press controls of the press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship" }, { "slug": "1938-spain-franco-press-law", "title": "Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law", "occurred_on": "1938-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "ES", "country_name": "Spain", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "ES", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "insult_and_defamation_laws", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "francisco-franco", "leader_name": "Francisco Franco", "issue_of_the_day": "Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-04-01", "outcome_note": "Spain abolished prior press press controls by decree in April 1977, after Franco's 1975 death, ahead of the 1978 constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press.", "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "While Spain's civil war continued, the Nationalist government led by Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 requiring government permission to found a newspaper, work as a journalist or direct a paper, alongside continued pre-publication press controls and years-long prison terms for vaguely defined offenses.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1938-spain-franco-press-law" }, { "slug": "1933-germany-editors-law", "title": "Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction", "occurred_on": "1933-10-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "DE", "country_name": "Germany", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "DE", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "adolf-hitler", "leader_name": "Adolf Hitler", "issue_of_the_day": "Hitler's government, in power only since January 1933, was consolidating control over German public life and moved within months to bring newspapers and their editors directly under state and party direction.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1945-05-08", "outcome_note": "The Editors Law and the Reich Press Chamber ended with Nazi Germany's defeat and unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.", "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Nine months after Adolf Hitler became chancellor, Germany's Schriftleitergesetz, or Editors Law, required journalists to register with a new state-controlled Reich Press Chamber and barred non-Aryans from the profession, while directing editors to omit anything judged harmful to the Reich's standing.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-germany-editors-law" }, { "slug": "1933-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship", "title": "Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press press controls under a new constitution", "occurred_on": "1933-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "PT", "country_name": "Portugal", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PT", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "antonio-salazar", "leader_name": "António de Oliveira Salazar", "issue_of_the_day": "Salazar's government was consolidating the Estado Novo behind a new 1933 constitution, and used the moment to formalize a system of press press controls it had for years denied operating.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1974-04-25", "outcome_note": "Portugal's press controls apparatus ended with the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which overthrew the Estado Novo.", "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Portugal's government, led by Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, had restricted the press since a 1926 military coup while officially denying it did so. In 1933, alongside a new constitution promising freedom of expression, the government openly established formal press press controls for the first time.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship" }, { "slug": "1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship", "title": "Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication", "occurred_on": "1922-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-lenin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Lenin", "issue_of_the_day": "The new Soviet government, having just consolidated power after years of revolution and civil war, sought a single, centrally controlled system to replace the uncoordinated military and civilian press controls bodies it had inherited.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "Glavlit's authority over publishing was still largely intact through the 1980s, though its standards were relaxed from 1988 under Gorbachev's glasnost policy before its 1991 dissolution.", "era": "1920s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "In 1922, under Vladimir Lenin's government, Soviet Russia created Glavlit, a single agency with final authority to review newspapers, books, plays and even posters before they could be printed or performed. By 1930 no publication in the Soviet Union could appear without its approval.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=europe", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=europe" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }