The record
Incidents, national level, outcome reversed
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.
All filters: country, dates, head of government, sort
Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reporting
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal at Washington Dulles Airport, questioned him about his reporting trips to Iran, and seized both of his phones without his consent; the phones were returned…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025
On September 17, 2025, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the United States regulator of broadcasting, Brendan Carr, said broadcasters could "do this the easy way or the hard way" over remarks by the television ho…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule
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…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Narendra Modi · Reversed
Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023
On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. The law c…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Reversed
Russia: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years
Russia arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in March 2023 on an espionage charge his employer called fabricated, held him for about 15 months before a closed trial, and sentenced him to 16 years before releasing him in a…
Detention and violence · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Reversed
Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to eight years
Belarus sentenced Polish-Belarusian correspondent Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions, after holding him since March 2021. He was freed five years later in a multi-country priso…
Detention and violence · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Alexander Lukashenko · Reversed
Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut is sentenced to eight years for inciting hatred
A Belarusian court sentenced dual Belarusian-Polish journalist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and calling for sanctions, and he was freed three years later as part of a multi-country prisoner exchan…
Insult and defamation laws · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Alexander Lukashenko · Reversed
Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email records
After it came to light that the Trump-era Justice Department had secretly obtained the phone and email records of reporters at The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a policy barring prosec…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Joe Biden · Reversed
Turkiye: the presidency's press card system is found restrictive by the country's top administrative court
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…
Credential control · Stage Pressure · Head of government Recep Tayyip Erdoğan · Reversed
Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop
After federal officers deployed to Portland used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on journalists and legal observers covering protests, the American Civil Liberties Union sued, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction b…
Access bans · Stage Punish · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
Morocco: investigative journalist Omar Radi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware and he is later detained
Amnesty International confirmed Moroccan investigative journalist Omar Radi's phone had been infected with Pegasus spyware, and Moroccan police separately detained him overnight days later after private material from his devices circulated…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Saadeddine Othmani · Reversed
Australia's High Court invalidates warrant for raid on journalist Annika Smethurst
Australia's High Court ruled that the warrant the Australian Federal Police used to raid News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst's home over a national-security leak was invalid, and weeks later the AFP said it would not lay charges against…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Scott Morrison · Reversed
Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests
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.
Shutdowns and blocking · Stage Silence · Head of government Hassan Rouhani · Reversed
Australian Federal Police raid the national broadcaster over reporting on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan
Australian Federal Police spent hours searching the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) over its 2017 "Afghan Files" reports on alleged killings by Australian special forces that breached the laws of armed conflic…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Scott Morrison · Reversed
United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act
The United States indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 17 counts under the Espionage Act over the 2010 publication of leaked military and diplomatic files, charges press-freedom groups said could expose ordinary national-security j…
Secrets and espionage laws · Stage Punish · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
Philippines: Rappler's Maria Ressa arrested over cyber libel case
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.
Detention and violence · Stage Punish · Head of government Rodrigo Duterte · Reversed
White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President Trump
After CNN's Jim Acosta questioned President Trump at a news conference and briefly kept hold of a microphone as an intern reached for it, the White House suspended his hard pass, the standing credential letting reporters enter the grounds;…
Credential control · Stage Restrict · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018
On November 7, 2018, the White House suspended the hard pass of CNN's White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, after what Gulf News called a "heated confrontation" between Acosta and the president of the United States, Donald Trump, at a new…
Credential control · Stage Restrict · Head of government Donald Trump · Reversed
Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre
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…
Secrets and espionage laws · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Aung San Suu Kyi · Reversed
Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years
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.
Detention and violence · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Ilham Aliyev · Reversed
United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source
For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose no…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Punish · Head of government Barack Obama · Reversed
Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges
Months after the military removed President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian security forces arrested Al Jazeera English journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed at a Cairo hotel; courts later convicted them of aiding a banned orga…
Detention and violence · Stage Punish · Head of government Adly Mansour · Reversed
Ecuador's Organic Communication Law creates a regulator that issues hundreds of sanctions against journalists and outlets
Ecuador's National Assembly passed the Organic Communication Law under President Rafael Correa, creating the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a regulator that issued more than 675 sanctions against journalists a…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Rafael Correa · Reversed
United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks
The U.S. Army charged intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law against disclosing defense information, after she gave WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked documents, a large archive of military and dip…
Secrets and espionage laws · Stage Punish · Head of government Barack Obama · Reversed
North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor
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…
Secrets and espionage laws · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Kim Jong Il · Reversed
Zimbabwe: police close the Daily News under the media registration law
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court ruled the Daily News, the country's largest independent newspaper, was operating unregistered under a 2002 media law, and police shut its offices the next day; the paper stayed closed for nearly seven years.
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Silence · Head of government Robert Mugabe · Reversed
Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger
Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily tha…
Insult and defamation laws · Stage Punish · Head of government Slobodan Milosevic · Reversed
Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting
A special military tribunal convicted four Nigerian journalists as accessories to a supposed 1995 coup plot after they reported on it, sentencing them to lengthy prison terms with no right of appeal, under the military government of Genera…
Detention and violence · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Sani Abacha · Reversed
United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices
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. Broadcas…
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Silence · Head of government Margaret Thatcher · Reversed
South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency
Under a state of emergency State President P. W. Botha had declared in July 1985, the government banned television, radio and photographic coverage of unrest in South Africa's Black townships on November 2, 1985, requiring print journalist…
Shutdowns and blocking · Stage Silence · Head of government P. W. Botha · Reversed
United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada
When United States forces invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada on October 25, 1983, military commanders kept all journalists away from the island for the first two days of fighting, citing operational reasons. Protests from news organiz…
Access bans · Stage Restrict · Head of government Ronald Reagan · Reversed
Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight
On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, cutting phone and telex lines, suspending nearly all newspapers, and interning thousands of people, most Solidarity trade union journalists among them, withi…
Shutdowns and blocking · Stage Silence · Head of government Wojciech Jaruzelski · Reversed
Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile
Under President Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian authorities arrested and deported staff of Radio Haiti-Inter, an independent station that had reported critically on the government, forcing its director, journalist Jean Dominique, into exile…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Jean-Claude Duvalier · Reversed
South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls
Under General Chun Doo-hwan's martial-law government, South Korean authorities ordered newsrooms in 1980 to purge journalists who had resisted press controls or joined a May sit-in strike for press freedom, and closed 172 periodicals, dism…
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Silence · Head of government Chun Doo-hwan · Reversed
Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents
Hours after seizing power on March 24, 1976, Argentina's military junta, led by General Jorge Videla, issued Communiqué No. 19, threatening up to 10 years in prison for reporting favorable to groups it called subversive. Hundreds of journa…
Detention and violence · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Jorge Rafael Videla · Reversed
India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency on June 25, 1975, and the next day her government imposed pre-press controls on every Indian newspaper, requiring official clearance before publication and later forcibly merging t…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government Indira Gandhi · Reversed
Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law
President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and the next day ordered the military to take over nearly every newspaper, radio and television station in the Philippines, jailing prominent publishers and editors and…
Shutdowns and blocking · Stage Silence · Head of government Ferdinand Marcos · Reversed
Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure
White House Counsel John Dean wrote a memo on how to use federal agencies against President Nixon's political opponents, and the resulting list of more than 200 names included journalists such as CBS News correspondent Daniel Schorr. It be…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Pressure · Head of government Richard Nixon · Reversed
United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers
After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper. The Supreme Court…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government Richard Nixon · Reversed
Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press controls
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 le…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government Alexander Dubček · Reversed
South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals
Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid. It let the government ban organizations and p…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government Daniel François Malan · Reversed
Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules
Australia's wartime government, under Prime Minister John Curtin, controlled press coverage of military events through the Department of Information. In April 1944, Minister for Information Arthur Calwell ordered the seizure of copies of t…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government John Curtin · Reversed
Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers
President Getúlio Vargas created the Department of Press and state messaging in 1939 during Brazil's Estado Novo dictatorship, giving the government direct control over what newspapers, radio and film could publish. The department operated…
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Silence · Head of government Getúlio Vargas · Reversed
Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law
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-p…
Credential control · Stage Silence · Head of government Francisco Franco · Reversed
Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction
Nine months after Adolf Hitler became chancellor, Germany's Schriftleitergesetz, or Editors Law, required journalists to register with a new state-controlled Reich Press Chamber and barred non-Aryans from the profession, while directing ed…
Credential control · Stage Silence · Head of government Adolf Hitler · Reversed
Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution
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 go…
Prior restraint · Stage Silence · Head of government António de Oliveira Salazar · Reversed
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