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, stage: punish, 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
CountryAustralia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180Egypt, RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180MoroccoPhilippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180Serbia, RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
ContinentAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaOceania
TacticSurveillance and subpoenas 7Detention and violence 7Secrets and espionage laws 5Insult and defamation laws 3Access bans 2Lawsuits against the press 2Funding and ownership pressure 1
StagePunish 17
OutcomeReversed 17
LevelNational 14State or province 2Municipal 1
Head of governmentAdly MansourBarack ObamaDonald TrumpJoe BidenJohn PattersonLaura KellyMikhail GorbachevRodrigo DuterteSaadeddine OthmaniScott MorrisonSlobodan MilosevicTheodore RooseveltTim Walz

17 incidents match this view.

TableCardsCSVJSONMarkdown
DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
10 July 2026Customs officers seize Grayzone editor's phones at Virginia airport over Iran reportingUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasDonald TrumpReversed (17 July 2026)
11 August 2023Police raid Marion County Record newsroom and publisher's home in KansasUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasLaura KellyReversed (5 August 2024)
19 July 2021Justice Department bars seizing reporters' phone and email recordsUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasJoe BidenReversed (25 April 2025)
23 July 2020Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stopUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Access bansDonald TrumpReversed (23 July 2020)
5 July 2020Morocco: investigative journalist Omar Radi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware and he is later detainedMorocco (RSF rank: not recorded)Surveillance and subpoenasSaadeddine OthmaniReversed (1 July 2024)
29 May 2020Minnesota State Patrol arrests CNN crew live on air in MinneapolisUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Detention and violenceTim WalzReversed (29 May 2020)
15 April 2020Australia's High Court invalidates warrant for raid on journalist Annika SmethurstAustralia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasScott MorrisonReversed (27 May 2020)
5 June 2019Australian Federal Police raid the national broadcaster over reporting on alleged war crimes in AfghanistanAustralia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasScott MorrisonReversed (15 October 2020)
23 May 2019United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage ActUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsDonald TrumpReversed (25 June 2024)
13 February 2019Philippines: Rappler's Maria Ressa arrested over cyber libel casePhilippines (RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180)Detention and violenceRodrigo DuterteReversed (14 February 2019)
17 October 2014United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his sourceUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasBarack ObamaReversed (17 October 2014)
29 December 2013Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related chargesEgypt (RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180)Detention and violenceAdly MansourReversed (23 September 2015)
5 July 2010United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaksUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsBarack ObamaReversed (17 January 2017)
20 October 1998Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial dangerSerbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180)Insult and defamation lawsSlobodan MilosevicReversed (1 October 2000)
30 August 1986Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)Detention and violenceMikhail GorbachevReversed (29 September 1986)
1960United States: Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New York Times for libel over a civil rights advertisementUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Lawsuits against the pressJohn PattersonReversed (9 March 1964)
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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