Incidents: shutdowns and blocking, 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.
11 incidents match this view.
Country: Australia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180 Belarus, RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180 Chile, RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180 Czechia, RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180 India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180 Philippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180 Poland, RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180 South Africa, RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180 Tanzania, RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180 United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
Continent: Africa Asia Europe North America South America Oceania
Tactic: Shutdowns and blocking (11) Detention and violence (4) Prior restraint (3) Access bans (2) Secrets and espionage laws (2)
Stage: Silence (11)
Outcome: Reversed (5) Sustained (2) Upheld by a court (2) Unknown (1) Ongoing (1)
Level: National (11)
Head of government: Alexander Dubček Alexander Lukashenko Augusto Pinochet Ferdinand Marcos John Curtin Narendra Modi P. W. Botha Samia Suluhu Hassan Wojciech Jaruzelski Woodrow Wilson
| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|
| October 29, 2025 | Tanzania shuts down internet access on election day amid unrest | Tanzania (RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Samia Suluhu Hassan | Unknown |
| May 18, 2021 | Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist' | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Alexander Lukashenko | Sustained |
| August 5, 2019 | India imposes a communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after revoking the region's special status | India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Narendra Modi | Ongoing (August 5, 2020) |
| November 2, 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 (June 1, 1990) |
| December 13, 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 (July 22, 1983) |
| September 11, 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 (March 1, 1990) |
| 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) |
| August 21, 1968 | Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controls | Czechia (RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180) | Prior restraint | Alexander Dubček | Reversed (November 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) |
| 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 (November 1, 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 (March 7, 1921) |
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