Incidents: insult and defamation laws in Europe, national level
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.
4 incidents match this view.
Country: Hungary, RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180 Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180 Serbia, RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180 Spain, RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180
Continent: Europe
Tactic: Insult and defamation laws (4) Shutdowns and blocking (1) Funding and ownership pressure (1) Credential control (1) Prior restraint (1)
Stage: Punish (3) Silence (1)
Outcome: Reversed (2) Sustained (1) Unknown (1)
Level: National (4)
Head of government: Francisco Franco Slobodan Milosevic Viktor Orban Vladimir Putin
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 4, 2022 | Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Vladimir Putin | Sustained |
| March 30, 2020 | Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Viktor Orban | Unknown |
| October 20, 1998 | Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger | Serbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Slobodan Milosevic | Reversed (January 1, 2001) |
| April 1938 | Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law | Spain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180) | Credential control | Francisco Franco | Reversed (April 1, 1977) |
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