# Incidents in Asia Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news. The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct. Filters: country, continent, tactic, stage, from, to, level, actor, leader, outlet, outcome, source_kind, has_case, plus q, sort (date, date_asc, country, tactic, relevance), per_page (up to 100), page and view (table or cards), as query parameters. 56 incidents match this view. Showing 50 on page 1 of 2. - 20 August 2026: [Kazakhstan: fabricated copyright complaints used against journalists](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-copyright-claims-against-press). An investigation found paid services in Kazakhstan filing fabricated copyright complaints, impersonating global brands, to get social media platforms to remove journalists' accounts and posts, alongside criminal prosecutions of the press. - 10 February 2026: [India: one-year prison sentence for the journalist Ravi Nair in a criminal defamation case, February 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-india-journalist-sentenced-adani-defamation). On February 10, 2026, a court in India sentenced the investigative journalist Ravi Nair to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 rupees (about US$55) for criminal defamation, an offence under which a statement that damages someone's reput… - 7 January 2026: [Israel: ban on independent entry of foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip, 2023 to 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-israel-maintains-ban-on-foreign-press-access-to-gaza). Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the government of Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast between Israel and Egypt, independently; foreign corres… - 15 December 2025: [China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law). On December 15, 2025, the High Court of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China with its own courts, convicted Jimmy Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, on two counts of "conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign force… - 19 March 2025: [Türkiye: detention, injury and deportation of journalists covering protests, March 2025](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-turkiye-detains-and-deports-journalists-covering-protests). After the detention of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on March 19, 2025, protests spread in Türkiye, and between March 19 and March 28, 2025, the authorities detained at least 13 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect J… - 3 February 2025: [Journalists beaten in Bangladesh in separate incidents as interim government drafts new cyber laws](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-bangladesh-journalists-attacked-interim-government). On a single day in February 2025, groups of men beat at least eight journalists in two separate incidents in rural Bangladesh while they investigated a medical-negligence tip and a land dispute; the incidents came as the interim government… - 29 January 2025: [Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pakistan-amends-peca-cybercrime-law). Pakistan's parliament amended the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act to create a new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority with power to block online content and a Social Media Protection Tribunal, and made spreading informatio… - November 2024: [China: editor Dong Yuyu is sentenced to seven years for espionage over meals with a diplomat](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-china-dong-yuyu-espionage-sentence). A Chinese court sentenced Guangming Daily editor and columnist Dong Yuyu to seven years in prison for espionage after his 2022 arrest while having lunch with a Japanese diplomat, a case his son called purely political. - 29 August 2024: [Hong Kong court convicts Stand News editors of sedition](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-hong-kong-stand-news-editors-convicted-sedition). A Hong Kong court convicted former Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of conspiring to publish seditious material, under a colonial-era law, over articles the outlet had run before police raided its newsroom and it closed at… - 20 August 2024: [Kazakhstan: new accreditation rules let officials withdraw a journalist's pass for off-topic questions](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-kazakhstan-restrictive-media-accreditation-rules). Kazakhstan's government adopted rules allowing journalists' accreditation to be withdrawn for six months over conduct at a news event, including asking off-topic questions, while proposing separate rules letting the foreign ministry deny f… - 28 May 2024: [Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-georgia-foreign-influence-law). Georgia's parliament passed a law requiring media and civil-society groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as organizations "serving the interests of a foreign power," over mass street protests and… - March 2024: [Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-india-court-strikes-down-fact-check-unit). India's 2023 amendment to its Information Technology Rules empowered a government-run Fact Check Unit to label online content about the central government 'fake' or 'false' and require its removal; comedian Kunal Kamra and media groups cha… - 17 January 2024: [Iran: journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi are sentenced to 13 and 12 years](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-iran-hamedi-mohammadi-sentenced). Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who broke the story of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody, were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively on national-security-linked charges tied to their reporting, and later re… - 1 November 2023: [Turkish authorities detain three journalists under 'disinformation' law](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-detains-journalists-disinformation-law). Turkish authorities detained three journalists, jailing columnist Tolga Sardan pending trial, under a 2022 law criminalizing the spread of disinformation, after the government's own disinformation-fighting body disputed their reporting on… - 21 August 2023: [India: Gaon Savera's Facebook and X accounts blocked](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-blocks-gaon-savera-accounts). India blocked independent news outlet Gaon Savera's Facebook page and X account nationwide just before a workers' convention it planned to cover, without a public explanation from the government. - 22 February 2023: [Turkiye: the broadcast regulator fines and suspends channels for earthquake coverage](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-rtuk-fines-earthquake-coverage). Turkiye's broadcast regulator, RTUK, fined three television channels and suspended the next five episodes of two of their programs after they aired criticism of the government's response to the February 2023 earthquakes. - 14 February 2023: [Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices). 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 com… - 13 February 2023: [Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy). Prime Minister Hun Sen personally ordered the license of independent outlet Voice of Democracy revoked over an article about an earthquake-aid agreement signed by his son, rejecting the outlet's published apology. - 22 January 2022: [Turkiye: journalist Sedef Kabas is arrested for a proverb about President Erdogan](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-turkiye-sedef-kabas-insulting-president). Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas was arrested and later convicted under Article 299 of the penal code, which criminalizes insulting the president, after quoting a proverb about a palace becoming a stable during a televised discussion of Erdo… - 14 January 2022: [Turkiye: journalist Sedef Kabas tried for insulting the president](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-turkiye-prosecutes-sedef-kabas). Turkish authorities tried journalist Sedef Kabas repeatedly for insulting President Erdogan over her on-air comments and tweets questioning his college diploma and alleging corruption, an offense carrying up to four years in prison. - 14 December 2021: [Vietnam: journalist Pham Doan Trang is sentenced to nine years for anti-state "propaganda"](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence). A Vietnamese court sentenced Pham Doan Trang, founding editor of the independent outlet The Vietnamese, to nine years in prison for distributing anti-state "propaganda" under a national-security provision of the country's penal code. - 24 June 2021: [China (Hong Kong): Apple Daily closes after its assets are frozen under the national security law](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hong-kong-apple-daily-forced-closure). Apple Daily, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy newspaper, printed its final edition after the government froze its parent company's assets and arrested its editors under the national security law imposed on the territory in 2020. - 1 April 2021: [Turkiye: the presidency's press card system is found restrictive by the country's top administrative court](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive). Turkiye's Council of State suspended 2018 rules under which the presidency's Communications Directorate could deny or cancel the yellow and turquoise press cards that let reporters work and enter official buildings, after finding the groun… - 8 March 2021: [Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-junta-revokes-media-licenses). Weeks after seizing power, Myanmar's military junta revoked the operating licenses of five independent media outlets covering protests against the coup and raided two of their newsrooms, seizing computers and files; journalists from the ou… - February 2021: [Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown). After seizing power on February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military cut mobile data service nationwide, leaving reporters in rural townships and Rakhine State unable to send news and blocking large areas from outside communication for months. - 15 June 2020: [Philippines: Maria Ressa convicted of cyber libel](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-philippines-ressa-cyber-libel-conviction). A Manila court convicted Rappler's Maria Ressa and researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. of criminal cyber libel and sentenced them to up to six years in prison, over a 2012 story republished after the cybercrime law used to charge them took effe… - 14 May 2020: [China: citizen journalist Zhang Zhan imprisoned for Wuhan reporting](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-arrests-zhang-zhan). China detained citizen journalist Zhang Zhan for posting independent video reports from Wuhan during the early COVID-19 outbreak, later convicting her of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" and, after her release, detaining her again… - 18 March 2020: [China: press credentials and visas withheld from correspondents at three American newspapers](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-press-card-visa-restrictions-us-outlets). A survey by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China found the government refused new press credentials to journalists tied to American outlets and cancelled or refused visas for correspondents at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal a… - 17 March 2020: [China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists). China ordered American correspondents for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to leave the country, in a reciprocal response to the Trump administration capping the number of Chinese state-media employees al… - 19 February 2020: [China: three Wall Street Journal correspondents expelled over an opinion headline](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-three-wsj-journalists-headline). China's foreign ministry expelled three Wall Street Journal correspondents and revoked their press credentials after an opinion column, unrelated to their own reporting, used a headline the ministry called offensive. - 16 November 2019: [Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown). Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal levels nationwide for nearly a week during protests over fuel prices, while arresting at least eleven journalists, including one detained for reporting on the shutdown itself. - 7 November 2019: [India: journalist Aatish Taseer's overseas citizenship revoked](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-india-revokes-taseer-oci-status). India's government cancelled writer and journalist Aatish Taseer's Overseas Citizen of India status months after he wrote a Time magazine cover story critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing his father's Pakistani nationality. - 5 August 2019: [India imposes a communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after revoking the region's special status](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-india-kashmir-communications-blackout). As it revoked Jammu and Kashmir's constitutional autonomy, India's government cut broadband, mobile internet, text messaging and phone service across the region, leaving local journalists unable to file stories, verify information or commu… - 13 February 2019: [Philippines: Rappler's Maria Ressa arrested over cyber libel case](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-philippines-arrests-ressa). Philippine agents arrested Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa at the outlet's Manila office and held her overnight on a cyber libel case tied to a 2012 story, published before the cybercrime law used to charge her existed. - 17 January 2019: [Turkiye: Dutch freelance journalist Ans Boersma deported](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-turkiye-deports-ans-boersma). Turkish authorities detained Dutch freelance journalist Ans Boersma while she tried to renew her residence permit in Istanbul and deported her the next day, citing an alleged link to a Syrian armed group that the Netherlands said it had ne… - 2 October 2018: [Saudi Arabia's government kills journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-khashoggi-killed-consulate). Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul; the CIA concluded the crown prince ordered the killing, which Saudi Arabi… - 1 October 2018: [Saudi Arabia: spyware on an associate's phone precedes Jamal Khashoggi's killing by one day](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate). 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. - 3 September 2018: [Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act). A Myanmar court sentenced Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act after police handed them classified documents at a dinner shortly before their arrest, while they were investiga… - 21 March 2018: [Turkiye: Dogan Holding sells its media outlets to Demiroren](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-turkiye-dogan-sells-to-demiroren). Turkiye's largest independent media group, including the newspaper Hurriyet and the broadcaster CNN Turk, was sold to the Demiroren conglomerate, a buyer with ties to the governing party, for a reported 1.1 billion dollars. - 21 February 2018: [Philippines: a Rappler reporter is barred from the presidential palace](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-philippines-bans-rappler-presidential-palace). President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Rappler reporter Pia Ranada and the outlet's CEO barred from Malacanang Palace, the seat of the Philippine presidency, after the government revoked Rappler's operating license. - 4 September 2017: [Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill). Cambodia's tax authority presented the independent, English-language Cambodia Daily with a $6.3 million bill the paper called arbitrary and undocumented, forcing the 24-year-old newspaper to close rather than pay, amid a wider campaign aga… - 27 July 2016: [Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures). After a failed July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey's government closed more than 100 newspapers, television and radio stations, news agencies and publishing houses by state-of-emergency decree, citing alleged links to the movement it blamed for… - 4 March 2016: [Turkiye: court installs trustees at Zaman newspaper](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkiye-zaman-trustees-installed). An Istanbul court put Turkiye's best-selling newspaper, Zaman, and its parent company under trustees after ruling it supported a group the government called a terrorist organization. Police used tear gas on a crowd that gathered in support. - 1 September 2015: [Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova). A Baku court convicted investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova on business and tax charges and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison, in a case CPJ said was payback for her reporting on official corruption. - September 2013: [Vietnam: Decree 72 restricts blogs to personal information](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-vietnam-decree-72-restricts-blogs). Vietnam's Decree 72 took effect in September 2013, barring bloggers and social media users from linking to or reposting news from press organizations or foreign government websites, restricting them to sharing personal information only. - 24 January 2013: [Thailand: magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is sentenced to 11 years under the lese-majeste law](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence). A Thai court sentenced magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk to 11 years in prison under Article 112 of the penal code, the country's lese-majeste law barring insults to the royal family, over two articles he published under a pen name. - June 2010: [Israel: a court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' case](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-israel-prisoner-x-gag-order). An Israeli judge ordered Israeli media barred from any mention of a prisoner held under a false identity, or of the order itself, applying a system under which security-related stories must be reviewed and cleared by the military before pu… - 21 June 2009: [Iran expels a BBC correspondent and restricts foreign journalists after a disputed 2009 election](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-iran-post-election-foreign-press-restrictions). After Iran's disputed June 2009 presidential election produced mass protests, the government expelled BBC correspondent Jon Leyne, revoked foreign press credentials, confined most foreign journalists to office-based reporting, and blocked… - 8 June 2009: [North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced). A North Korean court sentenced Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to twenty years of "reform through hard labor" after their arrest for crossing the border from China without authorization, and both were released months later f… - 20 September 1998: [Malaysia pressures domestic media and monitors foreign correspondents after arresting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions). 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 w… Page 1 of 2. Next: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=asia&page=2&view=cards Download this view. CSV, JSON or Markdown. 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