The record

Incidents

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

190 incidents match. Showing 40 on page 4 of 4.

Table CardsCSV JSON Markdown

Date	Incident	Country	Tactic	Head of government	Outcome
12 September 2003	Zimbabwe: police close the Daily News under the media registration law	Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Mugabe	Reversed (27 May 2010)
10 February 2003	Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Access bans	George W. Bush	Sustained (14 April 2003)
15 March 2002	Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses	Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Mugabe	Unknown
18 September 2001	Eritrea: independent press closed and journalists jailed without trial	Eritrea (RSF rank: not recorded)	Detention and violence	Isaias Afwerki	Ongoing
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)
20 October 1998	Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger	Serbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180)	Insult and defamation laws	Slobodan Milosevic	Reversed (1 October 2000)
20 September 1998	Malaysia pressures domestic media and monitors foreign correspondents after arresting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim	Malaysia (RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180)	Surveillance and subpoenas	Mahathir Mohamad	Unknown
July 1995	Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting	Nigeria (RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180)	Detention and violence	Sani Abacha	Reversed (15 June 1998)
17 January 1991	United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf War	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Access bans	George H. W. Bush	Sustained (28 February 1991)
14 June 1989	China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests	China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180)	Expulsion and visa denial	Li Peng	Sustained (1 January 1990)
October 1988	United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices	United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Margaret Thatcher	Reversed (16 September 1994)
18 September 1988	Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power	Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180)	Prior restraint	Saw Maung	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
2 November 1985	South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency	South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)	Shutdowns and blocking	P. W. Botha	Reversed (1 June 1990)
25 October 1983	United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Access bans	Ronald Reagan	Reversed (1 April 1985)
13 December 1981	Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight	Poland (RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180)	Shutdowns and blocking	Wojciech Jaruzelski	Reversed (22 July 1983)
1980	Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile	Haiti (RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180)	Expulsion and visa denial	Jean-Claude Duvalier	Reversed (1 February 1986)
31 July 1980	South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls	South Korea (RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Chun Doo-hwan	Reversed (1 June 1987)
24 March 1976	Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Detention and violence	Jorge Rafael Videla	Reversed (10 December 1983)
26 June 1975	India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency	India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180)	Prior restraint	Indira Gandhi	Reversed (21 March 1977)
11 September 1973	Chile's military government shuts opposition radio stations and newspapers after the 1973 coup	Chile (RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180)	Shutdowns and blocking	Augusto Pinochet	Sustained (1 March 1990)
21 September 1972	Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law	Philippines (RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180)	Shutdowns and blocking	Ferdinand Marcos	Reversed (25 February 1986)
9 September 1971	United States: Nixon White House "enemies list" naming journalists, September 1971	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Surveillance and subpoenas	Richard Nixon	Unknown
16 August 1971	Nixon White House compiles an enemies list naming journalists for official pressure	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Surveillance and subpoenas	Richard Nixon	Reversed (27 June 1973)
15 June 1971	United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Prior restraint	Richard Nixon	Reversed (30 June 1971)
1969	United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenas	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Surveillance and subpoenas	Richard Nixon	Upheld by a court (29 June 1972)
21 August 1968	Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press controls	Czechia (RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180)	Prior restraint	Alexander Dubček	Reversed (1 November 1989)
24 May 1960	Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country	Egypt (RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Gamal Abdel Nasser	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
November 1955	United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist ties	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Surveillance and subpoenas	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Sustained (1 December 1956)
17 July 1950	South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals	South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)	Prior restraint	Daniel François Malan	Reversed (31 July 1991)
1948	Israel retains a British-era law giving the military the power to review and restrict the press	Israel (RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180)	Prior restraint	David Ben-Gurion	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
16 April 1944	Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules	Australia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180)	Prior restraint	John Curtin	Reversed (18 April 1944)
19 December 1941	United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Prior restraint	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Sustained (28 September 1945)
1939	Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers	Brazil (RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Getúlio Vargas	Reversed (1 January 1945)
April 1938	Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law	Spain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180)	Credential control	Francisco Franco	Reversed (1 April 1977)
4 October 1933	Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction	Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)	Credential control	Adolf Hitler	Reversed (8 May 1945)
1933	Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution	Portugal (RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180)	Prior restraint	António de Oliveira Salazar	Reversed (25 April 1974)
1927	United States Supreme Court strikes down a Minnesota law used to shut a newspaper	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Prior restraint	Theodore Christianson	Reversed (1 June 1931)
1922	Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Prior restraint	Vladimir Lenin	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
July 1917	United States postmaster bars the magazine The Masses from the mail under the Espionage Act	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Secrets and espionage laws	Woodrow Wilson	Upheld by a court (1 November 1917)
1917	United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Shutdowns and blocking	Woodrow Wilson	Upheld by a court (7 March 1921)

Download this view

CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".

CSV JSON Markdown

Incidents (RSS)Incidents (Atom)Incidents (JSON Feed)All incidents (CSV)