{ "title": "Incidents: surveillance and subpoenas, national level, outcome unknown", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&level=national&outcome=unknown", "filters": { "tactic": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "level": "national", "outcome": "unknown" }, "sort": "date", "count": 7, "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": "IN", "label": "India", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "MY", "label": "Malaysia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 95, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "MX", "label": "Mexico", "rsf": null }, { "value": "SA", "label": "Saudi Arabia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 176, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "US", "label": "United States", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "asia", "label": "Asia" }, { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 7 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 1 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 1 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 1 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "pressure", "label": "Pressure", "count": 3 }, { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 4 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 7 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 7 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama" }, { "value": "enrique-pena-nieto", "label": "Enrique Pena Nieto" }, { "value": "joe-biden", "label": "Joe Biden" }, { "value": "mahathir-mohamad", "label": "Mahathir Mohamad" }, { "value": "narendra-modi", "label": "Narendra Modi" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" }, { "value": "king-salman", "label": "Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1990s", "label": "1990s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1971", "label": "1971", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1998", "label": "1998", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2017", "label": "2017", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 7 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices", "title": "Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban", "occurred_on": "2023-02-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "issue_of_the_day": "The searches followed the government's ban, weeks earlier, of the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question,' which examined Modi's record as Gujarat's chief minister during 2002 riots that killed mostly Muslims.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No penalty or further tax action against the BBC was reported; the broadcaster's India operations continued.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "India's Income Tax Department searched BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai for alleged tax evasion, three weeks after the government used emergency powers to block a BBC documentary examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to 2002 communal violence.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices" }, { "slug": "2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe", "title": "FBI raids Project Veritas founder's home over Ashley Biden diary investigation", "occurred_on": "2021-11-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US-NY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "joe-biden", "leader_name": "Joe Biden", "issue_of_the_day": "Project Veritas had obtained and reported on a diary purportedly belonging to Ashley Biden during the 2020 campaign; federal prosecutors were investigating how the diary had been obtained and transported across state lines.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No charges were ever filed against O'Keefe; a court later allowed prosecutors to review the seized phones.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "FBI agents raided Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe's New York home and seized his phones as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of a diary belonging to Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter, which the group had reported on; O'Keefe was never charged.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-fbi-raids-project-veritas-founder-okeefe" }, { "slug": "2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate", "title": "Saudi Arabia: spyware on an associate's phone precedes Jamal Khashoggi's killing by one day", "occurred_on": "2018-10-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "SA", "country_name": "Saudi Arabia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "SA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "king-salman", "leader_name": "Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud", "issue_of_the_day": "Abdulaziz and Khashoggi had been collaborating on plans for a news and human rights website, and Khashoggi was, according to Abdulaziz, sharply critical of the Saudi crown prince in their private conversations.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2018-10-01", "outcome_note": "Citizen Lab's finding on the spyware operation itself was not followed, in the source reviewed, by any reported Saudi accountability measure.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "A journalist's close collaborator was covertly surveilled one day before the journalist himself was killed inside his own country's consulate.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 176, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Citizen Lab found Pegasus spyware on the phone of Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a close associate and collaborator of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, one day before Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi inside the country's Istanbul consulate.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate" }, { "slug": "2017-mexico-aristegui-pegasus-spyware", "title": "Mexico: journalist Carmen Aristegui receives Pegasus spyware through phishing texts", "occurred_on": "2017-06-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MX", "country_name": "Mexico", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "MX", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "enrique-pena-nieto", "leader_name": "Enrique Pena Nieto", "issue_of_the_day": "Aristegui and Loret de Mola were among several Mexican investigative journalists, human rights defenders and anti-corruption figures sent the same spyware technique around the same period.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2017-06-20", "outcome_note": "The government denied responsibility and Citizen Lab's report found no conclusive evidence establishing who sent the spyware, according to the source reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Investigative journalists' phones were secretly infected with spyware through fabricated personal warnings, with government responsibility denied and never conclusively established.", "rsf": null, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Citizen Lab, R3D and Article 19 documented Pegasus spyware sent to Mexican investigative journalists Carmen Aristegui and Carlos Loret de Mola through phishing text messages, which the Mexican government denied having sent.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-mexico-aristegui-pegasus-spyware" }, { "slug": "2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act", "title": "United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013", "occurred_on": "2013-10-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The record documents the prosecutions as a group; the outcome of each case is not recorded here.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organization in New York that documents cases of journalists imprisoned or killed worldwide, published on October 10, 2013, found that since 2009 the United States Department of Justice had brought felony charges against six government employees and two contractors, including Edward Snowden, accused of leaking classified information to the press. The charges were brought under the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, during the presidency of Barack Obama. The Project On Government Oversight, a United States non-profit that investigates the federal government, said the department under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder \"has used it more than all prior administrations combined.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act" }, { "slug": "1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions", "title": "Malaysia pressures domestic media and monitors foreign correspondents after arresting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim", "occurred_on": "1998-09-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MY", "country_name": "Malaysia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "mahathir-mohamad", "leader_name": "Mahathir Mohamad", "issue_of_the_day": "The September 1998 dismissal, arrest and prosecution of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on corruption and sodomy charges.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The sources reviewed do not describe a formal reversal of the surveillance of journalists or the pressure on party-linked papers during this period.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 95, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1990s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government arrested former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, party-linked newspapers pressured staff to follow the official line, police visited journalists who interviewed his wife, and authorities said they would monitor internet traffic about the case.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions" }, { "slug": "1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list", "title": "United States: Nixon White House \"enemies list\" naming journalists, September 1971", "occurred_on": "1971-09-09", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No ruling or formal rescission applies; the lists became public during the Watergate investigations of 1973 to 1974.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On September 9, 1971, the office of Charles Colson, special counsel to the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, sent White House Counsel John Dean, the president's lawyer on official matters, a memorandum naming 20 people as an initial \"enemies list.\" The list named political opponents, including journalists, for possible action through federal agencies, such as tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States federal tax agency. The IRS commissioner, Donald C. Alexander, refused to launch audits of the people on the list. The lists became public during the Watergate investigations into Nixon's White House.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-nixon-white-house-compiles-enemies-list" } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&level=national&outcome=unknown&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&level=national&outcome=unknown", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?tactic=surveillance_and_subpoenas&level=national&outcome=unknown" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }