The War On News

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

The record

Incidents, 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
CountryArgentina, RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180Australia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180AzerbaijanBelarus, RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180Brazil, RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180Canada, RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180Czechia, RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180Ecuador, RSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180Egypt, RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180Germany, RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180Haiti, RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180Hungary, RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180Iran, RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180MoroccoMyanmar, RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180Nigeria, RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180North KoreaPhilippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180Poland, RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180Portugal, RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180Serbia, RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180South Africa, RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180South Korea, RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180Spain, RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180Türkiye, RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180United Kingdom, RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180Zimbabwe, RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180
ContinentAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaSouth AmericaOceania
TacticDetention and violence 19Prior restraint 16Secrets and espionage laws 11Access bans 9Surveillance and subpoenas 8Licensing and closure of outlets 8Funding and ownership pressure 6Insult and defamation laws 6Shutdowns and blocking 6Credential control 5Official labels 2Lawsuits against the press 2Expulsion and visa denial 1
StageRestrict 6Pressure 8Punish 17Silence 21Eliminate 9
OutcomeReversed 61
LevelNational 50State or province 9Municipal 2
Head of governmentAdly MansourAdolf HitlerAlexander DubčekAlexander LukashenkoAntónio de Oliveira SalazarAung San Suu KyiBarack ObamaBob MartinezChun Doo-hwanDaniel François MalanDonald TrumpDoug DuceyEdward HeathEurith D. RiversFerdinand MarcosFrancisco FrancoFranklin D. RooseveltGetúlio VargasHassan RouhaniIlham AliyevIndira GandhiJ. James ExonJean-Claude DuvalierJoe BidenJohn CurtinJohn HorganJohn PattersonJorge Rafael VidelaKim Jong IlLaura KellyMargaret ThatcherMikhail GorbachevNarendra ModiOscar K. AllenP. W. BothaPrice DanielRafael CorreaRecep Tayyip ErdoğanRichard NixonRobert MugabeRodrigo DuterteRonald ReaganSaadeddine OthmaniSani AbachaScott MorrisonSlobodan MilosevicTheodore ChristiansonTheodore RooseveltTim WalzViktor OrbanVladimir PutinWojciech Jaruzelski

61 incidents match this view. Showing 11 on page 2 of 2.

TableCardsCSVJSONMarkdown
DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
17 July 1950South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individualsSouth Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)Prior restraintDaniel François MalanReversed (31 July 1991)
16 April 1944Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rulesAustralia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180)Prior restraintJohn CurtinReversed (18 April 1944)
August 1942United States: Justice Department investigates the Chicago Tribune under the Espionage Act over Battle of Midway coverageUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsFranklin D. RooseveltReversed (1 August 1942)
1939Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powersBrazil (RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180)Licensing and closure of outletsGetúlio VargasReversed (1 January 1945)
April 1938Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press LawSpain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180)Credential controlFrancisco FrancoReversed (1 April 1977)
28 March 1938United States: Supreme Court strikes down a Georgia city's permit requirement for distributing literature, 1938United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Prior restraintEurith D. RiversReversed (28 March 1938)
12 July 1934United States: Louisiana taxes large newspapers' advertising revenue; the tax is struck down in Grosjean v. American Press Co.United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Funding and ownership pressureOscar K. AllenReversed (10 February 1936)
4 October 1933Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists, 1933Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)Credential controlAdolf HitlerReversed (8 May 1945)
1933Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitutionPortugal (RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180)Prior restraintAntónio de Oliveira SalazarReversed (25 April 1974)
1927Minnesota closes The Saturday Press in 1927; the Supreme Court strikes down the law in 1931United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Prior restraintTheodore ChristiansonReversed (1 June 1931)
4 March 1909United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reportingUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Insult and defamation lawsTheodore RooseveltReversed (3 January 1911)
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