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
CountryAustralia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180Brazil, RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180Czechia, RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180Israel, RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180Myanmar, RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180Philippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180Portugal, RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180South Africa, RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180Spain, RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180United Kingdom, RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180 14 incidents match this view.
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|
| June 2010 | Israel: a court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' case | Israel (RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180) | Prior restraint | Benjamin Netanyahu | Unknown (June 1, 2010) |
| October 1988 | United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Margaret Thatcher | Reversed (September 16, 1994) |
| September 18, 1988 | Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power | Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180) | Prior restraint | Saw Maung | Ongoing (January 1, 1989) |
| June 26, 1975 | India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency | India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180) | Prior restraint | Indira Gandhi | Reversed (March 21, 1977) |
| September 21, 1972 | Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law | Philippines (RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Ferdinand Marcos | Reversed (February 25, 1986) |
| June 15, 1971 | United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Prior restraint | Richard Nixon | Reversed (June 30, 1971) |
| August 21, 1968 | Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press controls | Czechia (RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180) | Prior restraint | Alexander Dubček | Reversed (November 1, 1989) |
| July 17, 1950 | South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals | South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180) | Prior restraint | Daniel François Malan | Reversed (July 31, 1991) |
| 1948 | Israel retains a British-era law giving the military the power to review and restrict the press | Israel (RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180) | Prior restraint | David Ben-Gurion | Ongoing (January 1, 1989) |
| April 16, 1944 | Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules | Australia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180) | Prior restraint | John Curtin | Reversed (April 18, 1944) |
| 1939 | Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers | Brazil (RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Getúlio Vargas | Reversed (January 1, 1945) |
| 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) |
| 1933 | Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution | Portugal (RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180) | Prior restraint | António de Oliveira Salazar | Reversed (April 25, 1974) |
| 1922 | Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Prior restraint | Vladimir Lenin | Ongoing (January 1, 1989) |
Download this viewCSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".
Incidents (RSS)Incidents (Atom)Incidents (JSON Feed)All incidents (CSV)