{
  "title": "Incidents: prior restraint in Europe, stage: silence",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&tactic=prior_restraint&stage=silence",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe",
    "tactic": "prior_restraint",
    "stage": "silence"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 5,
  "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": "CZ",
        "label": "Czechia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 11,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country-czechia"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "PT",
        "label": "Portugal",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 10,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 10th 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": "ES",
        "label": "Spain",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 29,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "GB",
        "label": "United Kingdom",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 18,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
        "label": "Shutdowns and blocking",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "credential_control",
        "label": "Credential control",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "alexander-dubcek",
        "label": "Alexander Dubček"
      },
      {
        "value": "antonio-salazar",
        "label": "António de Oliveira Salazar"
      },
      {
        "value": "francisco-franco",
        "label": "Francisco Franco"
      },
      {
        "value": "margaret-thatcher",
        "label": "Margaret Thatcher"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-lenin",
        "label": "Vladimir Lenin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "1930s",
        "label": "1930s",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "1980s",
        "label": "1980s",
        "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": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1938",
        "label": "1938",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1968",
        "label": "1968",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1988",
        "label": "1988",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 5
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "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.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 18,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "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": "1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship",
      "title": "Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government 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 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 controls in Czechoslovakia ended with the Velvet Revolution of November 1989, which brought down Communist Party rule.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 11,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country-czechia"
      },
      "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 controls. In the invasion's aftermath, the new leadership reimposed government 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 controls by decree in April 1977, after Franco's 1975 death, ahead of the 1978 constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 29,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "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-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship",
      "title": "Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes 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 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.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 10,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "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 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.",
      "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": "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"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}