{
  "title": "Incidents: licensing and closure of outlets in Europe, outcome sustained",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&tactic=outlet_licensing&outcome=sustained",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe",
    "tactic": "outlet_licensing",
    "outcome": "sustained"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 4,
  "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": "HU",
        "label": "Hungary",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 74,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "RU",
        "label": "Russia",
        "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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "SK",
        "label": "Slovakia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 37,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "label": "Funding and ownership pressure",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "robert-fico",
        "label": "Robert Fico"
      },
      {
        "value": "viktor-orban",
        "label": "Viktor Orban"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2000s",
        "label": "2000s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2001",
        "label": "2001",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2010",
        "label": "2010",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2024",
        "label": "2024",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 4
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "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": "2024-07-01",
      "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 37,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "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": "2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
      "title": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license",
      "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The suspension came about six months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which several independent Russian outlets closed or moved abroad rather than operate under new wartime speech laws.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
      "outcome_note": "The Basmanny District Court's suspension of the print license stood as of the ruling, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national court ended a Nobel-recognized newspaper's print license outright over a sixteen-year-old paperwork dispute, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
      "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": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Moscow court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after the media regulator Roskomnadzor said the paper had not provided documents about a 2006 change of ownership.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license"
    },
    {
      "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.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "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": "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"
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&tactic=outlet_licensing&outcome=sustained&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=europe&tactic=outlet_licensing&outcome=sustained",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=europe&tactic=outlet_licensing&outcome=sustained"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}