The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution

PortugalRSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

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.123

What happened

After a 1926 military coup, Portugal's governments restricted newspapers while a 1926 decree, known as Law 12008, formally declared that no press controls existed at all. António de Oliveira Salazar, who became prime minister and built the Estado Novo, or New State, brought this contradiction to an end in 1933. That year's new constitution paradoxically guaranteed freedom of expression of thought in any form, even as Salazar's government openly established formal press controls for the first time, ending the earlier pretense that no such system existed. Newspapers had to submit content for prior review, and the government treated the press as an instrument to be directed rather than a check on official power. Enforcement tightened over the following decade; by 1945 cases against journalists and publishers were being moved to special courts with government-appointed judges, bypassing ordinary judicial oversight.123

What reason was given

Stated justification

Portugal's 1933 constitution formally guaranteed freedom of expression of thought in any form whatsoever, even as the same government openly instituted the press controls it had previously denied running.2

What changed for reporting

Newspapers had to submit material for government review before publication, and by 1945 press-related prosecutions could be moved to special courts with judges appointed by the government rather than the ordinary judiciary.3

Timeline

1933

1933
Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution

Who acted

NameRole in this incidentOffice at the time
António de Oliveira SalazarenforcedPrime Minister of Portugal

Sources

  1. Press Censorship in Spain & PortugalIndex on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972, reporting. Source record
  2. Estado Novo (Portuguese history)Encyclopaedia Britannica, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. A 1926 decree, Law 12008, declared that no censorship existed in Portugal even though censorship had in fact been introduced after that year's coup.that no censorship existed, even though censorship had in fact been introduced after the coup d'etat.Press Censorship in Spain & Portugal, Index on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972.Claim 162, checked 2026-09-22.
  2. Only in 1933 did Salazar's government openly establish formal censorship, in the same year a new constitution guaranteed freedom of expression of thought in any form.freedom of expression of thought in any form whatsoeverPress Censorship in Spain & Portugal, Index on Censorship (SAGE Publishing), 1972.Claim 163, checked 2026-09-22.
  3. Portugal's Estado Novo was an authoritarian, corporatist republic with a strong emphasis on order, censorship and propaganda.The Estado Novo was characterized by an authoritarian, corporatist republic with a strong emphasis on order, censorship, and propaganda.Estado Novo (Portuguese history), Encyclopaedia Britannica.Claim 164, checked 2026-09-22.