Incidents: prior restraint, stage: silence
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.
15 incidents match this view.
Country: Australia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180 Brazil, RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180 Czechia, RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180 India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180 Israel, RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180 Myanmar, RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180 Philippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180 Portugal, RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180 Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180 South Africa, RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180 Spain, RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180 United Kingdom, RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180 United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
Continent: Africa Asia Europe North America South America Oceania
Tactic: Prior restraint (15) Licensing and closure of outlets (5) Detention and violence (3) Shutdowns and blocking (3) Secrets and espionage laws (1) Credential control (1) Insult and defamation laws (1)
Stage: Silence (15)
Outcome: Reversed (11) Ongoing (3) Unknown (1)
Level: National (14) State or province (1)
Head of government: Alexander Dubček António de Oliveira Salazar Benjamin Netanyahu Daniel François Malan David Ben-Gurion Ferdinand Marcos Francisco Franco Getúlio Vargas Indira Gandhi John Curtin Margaret Thatcher Richard Nixon Saw Maung Theodore Christianson Vladimir Lenin
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|
| June 2010 | Israel: a court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' case | Israel (RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180) | Prior restraint | Benjamin Netanyahu | Unknown (June 1, 2010) |
| 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 (September 16, 1994) |
| September 18, 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 (January 1, 1989) |
| June 26, 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 (March 21, 1977) |
| September 21, 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 (February 25, 1986) |
| June 15, 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 (June 30, 1971) |
| August 21, 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 (November 1, 1989) |
| March 17, 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 (February 2, 1990) |
| 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 (January 1, 1989) |
| April 16, 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 (April 18, 1944) |
| 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 (January 1, 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 (April 1, 1977) |
| 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 (April 25, 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 (June 1, 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 (January 1, 1989) |
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