The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, 1900 to today

The record

Incidents, stage: punish

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 180Bangladesh, RSF 2026 rank: 152nd of 180Belarus, RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180China, RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180Egypt, RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180Ethiopia, RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180Hong Kong, RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180Hungary, RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180Iran, RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180KazakhstanMexicoMoroccoNicaragua, RSF 2026 rank: 168th of 180Pakistan, RSF 2026 rank: 153rd of 180Philippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180Saudi Arabia, RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180Serbia, RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180Tunisia, RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180Türkiye, RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180United Kingdom, RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180Venezuela, RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180Zimbabwe, RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180
ContinentAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaSouth AmericaOceania
TacticSurveillance and subpoenas 19Detention and violence 18Expulsion and visa denial 11Secrets and espionage laws 10Insult and defamation laws 9Access bans 7Credential control 4Shutdowns and blocking 3Licensing and closure of outlets 2Lawsuits against the press 2Official labels 1Funding and ownership pressure 1
StagePunish 60
OutcomeSustained 20Reversed 14Ongoing 11Unknown 9Upheld by a court 6
LevelNational 55Municipal 4State or province 1
Head of governmentAbiy AhmedAdly MansourAleksandar VucicAlexander LukashenkoBarack ObamaDaniel OrtegaDavid CameronDonald TrumpDwight D. EisenhowerEmmerson MnangagwaEnrique Pena NietoGeorge W. BushJacob FreyJoe BidenJohn LeeKais SaiedKaren BassKassym-Jomart TokayevLaura KellyLi PengMahmoud AhmadinejadMuhammad YunusNarendra ModiNicolas MaduroRecep Tayyip ErdoğanRichard NixonRobert MugabeRodrigo DuterteSaadeddine OthmaniSalman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudScott MorrisonShehbaz SharifSlobodan MilosevicTim WalzViktor OrbanVladimir PutinXi Jinping

60 incidents match this view. Showing 10 on page 2 of 2.

TableCardsCSVJSONMarkdown
DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
13 May 2013United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone recordsUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasBarack ObamaSustained (12 July 2013)
25 January 2013United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalistUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsBarack ObamaUpheld by a court (3 February 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)
21 June 2009Iran expels a BBC correspondent and restricts foreign journalists after a disputed 2009 electionIran (RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180)Expulsion and visa denialMahmoud AhmadinejadUnknown
6 July 2005New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affairUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasGeorge W. BushUpheld by a court (29 September 2005)
12 May 2005Zimbabwe: the High Court refuses to accredit Daily News journalists under the media registration lawZimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)Credential controlRobert MugabeUpheld by a court (12 May 2005)
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)
14 June 1989China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protestsChina (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180)Expulsion and visa denialLi PengSustained (1 January 1990)
1969United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenasUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasRichard NixonUpheld by a court (29 June 1972)
November 1955United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist tiesUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasDwight D. EisenhowerSustained (1 December 1956)
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