{
  "title": "Ladder: funding and ownership pressure, in Africa",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure?continent=africa",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa"
  },
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "tactic": {
    "slug": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
    "name": "Funding and ownership pressure",
    "definition": "A government uses money, or its power over owners, instead of acting against reporters directly. Examples are cutting the funds of public broadcasters, forcing the sale of an outlet, steering state advertising away from some publications, and using licence reviews or merger approvals to press an outlet's owners.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 2,
  "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": "2018-tanzania-online-content-regulations",
          "title": "Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee",
          "occurred_on": "2018-03-16",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "TZ",
          "country_name": "Tanzania",
          "continent": "africa",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 117,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "john-magufuli",
          "leader_name": "John Magufuli",
          "what_was_done": "Tanzania's government, under President John Magufuli, issued regulations requiring anyone running a blog or website with user content to register with the telecoms regulator and pay an annual fee reported at roughly $930, with vaguely worded content bans.",
          "outcome": "unknown",
          "outcome_on": "2018-04-12",
          "outcome_note": "A court granted media and rights groups an injunction against the fee in April 2018 while their challenge proceeded; the sources reviewed do not establish the challenge's final outcome.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-tanzania-online-content-regulations"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "stage": "silence",
      "name": "Silence",
      "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press",
          "title": "Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country",
          "occurred_on": "1960-05-24",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "EG",
          "country_name": "Egypt",
          "continent": "africa",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 169,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "gamal-abdel-nasser",
          "leader_name": "Gamal Abdel Nasser",
          "what_was_done": "President Gamal Abdel Nasser's government issued a decree on May 24, 1960 placing every newspaper and magazine in Egypt under state ownership and management, with the government appointing editors and deciding content, ending private control of the country's press.",
          "outcome": "ongoing",
          "outcome_on": "1989-01-01",
          "outcome_note": "State ownership structures created by the 1960 decree, including the government-appointed leadership of major papers such as Al-Ahram, remained in place through the 1980s.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure?continent=africa&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.json?continent=africa",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/funding_and_ownership_pressure.md?continent=africa"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}