# Ladder: funding and ownership pressure, in Europe

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.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Narrow with ?stage= (restrict, pressure, punish, silence, eliminate), ?continent=, ?from= and ?to= (year or date).

## Pressure

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.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| May 1926 | [United Kingdom](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb) ([RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Stanley Baldwin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/stanley-baldwin) | During the general strike called by the Trades Union Congress in May 1926, the British government requisitioned the country's available newsprint for its own newspaper, the British Gazette, and placed a provisional embargo on paper supplies to the Trades Union Congress's British Worker and many oth… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1926-uk-general-strike-newsprint-requisition) | Ongoing (10 May 1926) | 2 |
| 21 December 2010 | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public moral… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority) | Sustained (1 January 2011) | 1 |
| 31 December 2015 | [Poland](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/pl) ([RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Beata Szydlo](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/beata-szydlo) | Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subsequently dismissed or resigned. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings) | Sustained (31 December 2019) | 2 |
| 24 July 2020 | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Index.hu, Hungary's most-read independent news site, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull weeks after he warned that a change in ownership threatened its independence. Note: An editor was fired and most of a ninety-person newsroom resigned after a government-linked businessman gained influence over the outlet's ownership; United States funding pressure has not removed an editor through an ownership change. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired) | Sustained (24 July 2020) | 3 |
| 20 December 2023 | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act) | Reversed (30 June 2026) | 3 |
| 20 June 2024 | [Slovakia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/sk) ([RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Robert Fico](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/robert-fico) | Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism fro… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr) | Sustained (1 July 2024) | 2 |
| 4 August 2026 | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consular services such as passport renewal to Russians in exile wh… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets) | Sustained (4 August 2026) | 3 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 20 October 1998 | [Serbia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/rs) ([RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Slobodan Milosevic](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/slobodan-milosevic) | Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily than pro-government ones. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines) | Reversed (1 October 2000) | 2 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 14 April 2001 | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv) | Sustained (14 April 2001) | 1 |
| 29 November 2018 | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA. Note: Owners surrendered 476 outlets into one government-aligned foundation, exempted by decree from antitrust review; United States funding pressure has cut money and licenses but has not required owners to give up outlets. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger) | Sustained (29 November 2018) | 3 |
| April 2021 | [Poland](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/pl) ([RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Mateusz Morawiecki](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/mateusz-morawiecki) | Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner. Note: A state-controlled company bought a group of 20 regional papers reaching 17 million readers; United States funding pressure has cut money and reviewed licenses but has not transferred an outlet's ownership to the state. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press) | Sustained (1 April 2021) | 2 |

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