The record
Incidents: expulsion and visa denial, 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.
All filters: country, dates, head of government, sort
Israel: ban on independent entry of foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip, 2023 to 2026
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…
Access bans · Stage Restrict · Sustained
Türkiye: detention, injury and deportation of journalists covering protests, March 2025
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…
Detention and violence · Stage Punish · Head of government Recep Tayyip Erdoğan · Unknown
Venezuela detains, expels and restricts journalists after disputed 2024 election
In the two weeks after Venezuela's disputed July 28, 2024 presidential election, Reporters Without Borders documented 70 press-freedom violations, including nine detentions, nine expulsions of foreign correspondents and the suspension of t…
Detention and violence · Stage Punish · Head of government Nicolas Maduro · Sustained
Nicaragua strips 94 political opponents, including journalists, of citizenship
A Nicaraguan appeals court stripped 94 government opponents, including exiled journalists Carlos Fernando Chamorro and Alvaro Navarro, of their citizenship, days after President Daniel Ortega released 222 political prisoners to the United…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Eliminate · Head of government Daniel Ortega · Sustained
Russia: CBC/Radio-Canada bureau closed and journalists' visas cancelled
Russian authorities ordered the Canadian broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada's Moscow bureau closed and cancelled its journalists' visas and accreditation, part of a wave of expulsions and non-renewals of foreign correspondents after the invasion…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
Ethiopia: Economist correspondent Tom Gardner expelled
Ethiopia's media regulator revoked The Economist correspondent Tom Gardner's press accreditation and gave him 48 hours to leave the country, citing unspecified conduct, almost a year after expelling a New York Times reporter.
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Abiy Ahmed · Sustained
China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers
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…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Xi Jinping · Sustained
India: journalist Aatish Taseer's overseas citizenship revoked
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.
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Narendra Modi · Sustained
Turkiye: Dutch freelance journalist Ans Boersma deported
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…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Recep Tayyip Erdoğan · Sustained
Nicaragua: freelance correspondent detained and deported after online campaign
A coordinated online campaign accused freelance correspondent Carl David Goette-Luciak of being a foreign agent and circulated his home address, after which he was detained and deported from Nicaragua in September 2018.
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Daniel Ortega · Sustained
Venezuela expels or denies entry to dozens of foreign journalists covering anti-government protests
During 2016 to 2018 protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government, Venezuelan authorities expelled, deported or denied entry to dozens of foreign correspondents, most citing bureaucratic pretexts such as visa irregularities rather…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Nicolas Maduro · Ongoing
Iran expels a BBC correspondent and restricts foreign journalists after a disputed 2009 election
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…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Mahmoud Ahmadinejad · Unknown
China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests
After declaring martial law in Beijing on May 20, 1989, China's government imposed rigid restrictions on coverage of pro-democracy protests and, following the military's June 3-4 clearing of Tiananmen Square, expelled Associated Press corr…
Expulsion and visa denial · Stage Punish · Head of government Li Peng · Sustained
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
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