Ladder: insult and defamation laws
Laws that make it a crime, not only a civil wrong, to damage a person's reputation, to insult a head of state or a monarch (known as lèse-majesté), or to publish information that a government declares false, including laws against "fake news". Convictions can bring fines or prison.
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 25, 2013 | Ecuador (RSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180) | Rafael Correa | Ecuador's National Assembly passed the Organic Communication Law under President Rafael Correa, creating the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a regulator that issued more than 675 sanctions against journalists and media outlets over the following four years. Full entry | Reversed (February 20, 2019) | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 20, 1998 | Serbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180) | 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 | Reversed (January 1, 2001) | 1 |
| March 30, 2020 | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Viktor Orban | Hungary's parliament passed an emergency coronavirus law allowing prison terms of up to five years for spreading information the government deemed false or distorted about the pandemic, and let Prime Minister Viktor Orban rule by decree for an unlimited period. Full entry | Unknown | 3 |
| March 4, 2022 | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Vladimir Putin | Russia's parliament passed a law criminalizing the publication of information about the military that contradicts official statements, with penalties up to 15 years in prison, prompting Novaya Gazeta to pull its Ukraine war coverage and the BBC, CNN and other outlets to suspend operations inside Ru… Full entry | Sustained | 2 |
| July 14, 2023 | Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180) | Emmerson Mnangagwa | President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, which criminalizes meeting foreign governments or officials with intent to harm Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with penalties up to death for advocating armed intervention and up to ten years for supporting sanctions, weeks before the country's 2023 g… Full entry | Sustained (July 14, 2023) | 2 |
| November 1, 2023 | Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180) | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Turkish authorities detained three journalists, jailing columnist Tolga Sardan pending trial, under a 2022 law criminalizing the spread of disinformation, after the government's own disinformation-fighting body disputed their reporting on a leaked intelligence document and a story about released pr… Full entry | Ongoing | 2 |
| August 29, 2024 | Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180) | John Lee | A Hong Kong court convicted former Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of conspiring to publish seditious material, under a colonial-era law, over articles the outlet had run before police raided its newsroom and it closed at the end of 2021. Full entry | Upheld by a court (September 26, 2024) | 2 |
| January 16, 2025 | Tunisia (RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180) | Kais Saied | The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Sa… Full entry | Sustained | 2 |
| February 10, 2026 | India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180) | Narendra Modi | On February 10, 2026, a court in India sentenced the investigative journalist Ravi Nair to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 rupees (about US$55) for criminal defamation, an offence under which a statement that damages someone's reputation can lead to a fine or prison sentence. Full entry | Unknown (February 10, 2026) | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 · Insult and defamation laws: by country and year · The United States chapter