Ladder: credential control
A government decides who counts as a journalist through passes, accreditation or licences issued to individual reporters. Officials may refuse, suspend or revoke these credentials, or attach new conditions to them. Because many press areas admit only accredited reporters, control of credentials works as control of access.
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
Restrict
Limiting access or credentials for particular reporters or outlets: bans from briefings or buildings, pool changes, credential revocations, accreditation refusals.
| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 7, 2018 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | On November 7, 2018, the White House suspended the hard pass of CNN's White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, after what Gulf News called a "heated confrontation" between Acosta and the president of the United States, Donald Trump, at a news conference after the country's midterm elections. Full entry | Reversed (November 19, 2018) | 8 |
| November 7, 2018 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | After CNN's Jim Acosta questioned President Trump at a news conference and briefly kept hold of a microphone as an intern reached for it, the White House suspended his hard pass, the standing credential letting reporters enter the grounds; a federal judge ordered it restored a week later. Full entry | Reversed (November 19, 2018) | 2 |
| February 25, 2025 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | On February 25, 2025, the White House announced that it would decide which journalists join the press pool, the small rotating group of reporters who cover the president of the United States in spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One and share what they gather with other outlets. Full entry | Sustained (September 22, 2026) | 3 |
| September 19, 2025 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | On September 19, 2025, the United States Department of Defense, the federal department that provides the country's military forces, issued new credential rules for reporters at the Pentagon, its headquarters building, under the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Full entry | Ongoing (April 9, 2026) | 5 |
| October 15, 2025 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | Beginning on October 15, 2025, reporters from at least 30 news organizations vacated the press workspace at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, rather than sign the department's new credential pledge, with a deadline of October 17 to remove their belongings. Full entry | Ongoing (April 9, 2026) | 2 |
| September 18, 2026 | Focal case United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Donald Trump | On September 18, 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Truth Social, a social media platform, and in the Oval Office that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be banned from the White House, the president's office and residence in Washington, D.C. He described the outlets'… Full entry | Ongoing (September 21, 2026) | 11 |
Punish
Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.
| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 17, 2020 | China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180) | Xi Jinping | China ordered American correspondents for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to leave the country, in a reciprocal response to the Trump administration capping the number of Chinese state-media employees allowed in the United States, which itself followed China's ea… Full entry | Sustained | 1 |
Silence
Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.
| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 4, 1933 | Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180) | Adolf Hitler | Nine months after Adolf Hitler became chancellor, Germany's Schriftleitergesetz, or Editors Law, required journalists to register with a new state-controlled Reich Press Chamber and barred non-Aryans from the profession, while directing editors to omit anything judged harmful to the Reich's standin… Full entry | Reversed (May 8, 1945) | 2 |
| April 1938 | Spain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180) | Francisco Franco | While Spain's civil war continued, the Nationalist government led by Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 requiring government permission to found a newspaper, work as a journalist or direct a paper, alongside continued pre-publication press controls and years-long prison terms for va… Full entry | Reversed (April 1, 1977) | 1 |
All ladders · Credential control: by country and year · The United States chapter