{ "title": "Ladder: credential control, in Asia", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/credential_control?continent=asia", "filters": { "continent": "asia" }, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "credential_control", "name": "Credential control", "definition": "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.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/credential_control" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 4, "stages": [ { "stage": "pressure", "name": "Pressure", "definition": "Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage: regulatory threats, licence reviews, funding cuts, lawsuits by officials, official \"fake news\" or \"foreign agent\" labels, advertising pressure, tax audits.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive", "title": "Türkiye: the presidency's press card system is found restrictive by the country's top administrative court", "occurred_on": "2021-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 163, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "what_was_done": "Türkiye's Council of State suspended 2018 rules under which the presidency's Communications Directorate could deny or cancel the yellow and turquoise press cards that let reporters work and enter official buildings, after finding the grounds for denial too broad.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2021-04-01", "outcome_note": "Türkiye's Council of State suspended the challenged 2018 press card regulation, though the source reviewed reports hundreds of journalists still waiting for cards afterward.", "ladder_note": "A national regulator controlled the credential every journalist needs to work and enter official buildings, denying or delaying cards for hundreds of reporters for years.", "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive" } ] }, { "stage": "punish", "name": "Punish", "definition": "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.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists", "title": "China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers", "occurred_on": "2020-03-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "what_was_done": "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…", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The expelled journalists' press credentials were not restored; reciprocal media restrictions between the two countries continued for years afterward.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists" }, { "slug": "2020-china-press-card-visa-restrictions-us-outlets", "title": "China: press credentials and visas withheld from correspondents at three American newspapers", "occurred_on": "2020-03-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "what_was_done": "A survey by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China found the government refused new press credentials to journalists tied to American outlets and cancelled or refused visas for correspondents at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post through 2020.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-03-03", "outcome_note": "The credential and visa denials were in force for the year covered by the survey, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.", "ladder_note": "Credentials and visas needed to work at all were denied to correspondents at three named outlets on a national scale, on top of earlier individual expulsion orders.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-press-card-visa-restrictions-us-outlets" }, { "slug": "2024-kazakhstan-restrictive-media-accreditation-rules", "title": "Kazakhstan: new accreditation rules let officials withdraw a journalist's pass for off-topic questions", "occurred_on": "2024-08-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "KZ", "country_name": "Kazakhstan", "continent": "asia", "rsf": null, "leader_slug": "kassym-jomart-tokayev", "leader_name": "Kassym-Jomart Tokayev", "what_was_done": "Kazakhstan's government adopted rules allowing journalists' accreditation to be withdrawn for six months over conduct at a news event, including asking off-topic questions, while proposing separate rules letting the foreign ministry deny foreign media accreditation over any violation of Kazakh law.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2024-09-03", "outcome_note": "The domestic accreditation rule had taken effect and the foreign media rule remained proposed, with officials not responding to requests for comment.", "ladder_note": "A government rule lets officials withdraw a journalist's accreditation for the content of the questions asked, not only for building or event access.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-kazakhstan-restrictive-media-accreditation-rules" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/credential_control?continent=asia&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/credential_control.json?continent=asia", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/credential_control.md?continent=asia" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }