The record

Incidents: licensing and closure of outlets, outcome sustained

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

22 incidents match this view.

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Date	Incident	Country	Tactic	Head of government	Outcome
15 December 2025	China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026	Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180)	Detention and violence	John Lee	Sustained (8 February 2026)
29 January 2025	Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content	Pakistan (RSF 2026 rank: 153rd of 180)	Official labels	Shehbaz Sharif	Sustained
20 June 2024	Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR	Slovakia (RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Fico	Sustained (1 July 2024)
4 March 2024	Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Javier Milei	Sustained
13 February 2023	Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article	Cambodia (RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hun Sen	Sustained (13 February 2023)
5 September 2022	Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Vladimir Putin	Sustained (5 September 2022)
24 June 2021	China (Hong Kong): Apple Daily closes after its assets are frozen under the national security law	Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Carrie Lam	Sustained (24 June 2021)
8 March 2021	Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup	Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Min Aung Hlaing	Sustained
4 September 2017	Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill	Cambodia (RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hun Sen	Sustained (4 September 2017)
27 July 2016	Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt	Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Sustained (31 December 2016)
21 December 2010	Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage	Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Viktor Orban	Sustained (1 January 2011)
27 May 2007	Venezuela: the government declines to renew RCTV's broadcast concession	Venezuela (RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hugo Chavez	Sustained (8 September 2015)
14 April 2001	State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Vladimir Putin	Sustained (14 April 2001)
July 1997	Peru strips television station owner Baruch Ivcher of his citizenship after critical reporting	Peru (RSF rank: not recorded)	Funding and ownership pressure	Alberto Fujimori	Sustained
1987	Malaysia: Printing Presses and Publications Act amended to bar court review of publishing permits, 1987	Malaysia (RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Mahathir Mohamad	Sustained
19 October 1977	South Africa bans The World and Weekend World newspapers and detains editor Percy Qoboza	South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Balthazar Johannes Vorster	Sustained (1 March 1978)
October 1951	Argentina: President Juan Perón's government hands the expropriated newspaper La Prensa to the CGT labor federation, October 1951	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Juan Perón	Sustained (1 October 1951)
8 May 1941	Greece: collaborationist government creates a Directorate-General for Press and Radio to review films and publications before release	Greece (RSF rank: not recorded)	Prior restraint	Georgios Tsolakoglou	Sustained
3 September 1939	Canada: War Measures Act regulations authorize review of hundreds of newspapers and ban political organizations	Canada (RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180)	Prior restraint	William Lyon Mackenzie King	Sustained (31 December 1945)
28 February 1933	Germany: Reichstag Fire Decree suspends freedom of the press, February 1933	Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Adolf Hitler	Sustained (1 May 1945)
1926	Dutch East Indies: Colonial authorities end publication of the communist newspaper Mawa under Penal Code Article 153 bis, 1926	Indonesia (RSF rank: not recorded)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff	Sustained (1 January 1926)
9 March 1913	Ottoman Empire bars lawmakers and officials from editing newspapers and jails a leading editor	Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Mehmed V	Sustained (9 March 1913)

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