{ "title": "Ladder: insult and defamation laws, in Asia", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws?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": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "name": "Insult and defamation laws", "definition": "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.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 6, "stages": [ { "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": "1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento", "title": "Philippines: United States colonial government's libel law is used to close the newspaper El Renacimiento", "occurred_on": "1901-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "william-howard-taft", "leader_name": "William Howard Taft", "what_was_done": "The United States colonial government in the Philippines enacted a criminal libel law in 1901 that Governor-General William Howard Taft defended by saying Filipinos were unused to the freedom of the press.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1914-01-01", "outcome_note": "Kalaw and Ocampo's convictions were affirmed on appeal, and Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison pardoned Ocampo in 1914, after the fine had already forced the paper to close.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws", "lawsuits_against_press" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento" }, { "slug": "2022-turkiye-sedef-kabas-insulting-president", "title": "Türkiye: journalist Sedef Kabas is arrested for a proverb about President Erdogan", "occurred_on": "2022-01-22", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "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": "Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas was arrested and later convicted under Article 299 of the penal code, which criminalizes insulting the president, after quoting a proverb about a palace becoming a stable during a televised discussion of Erdogan.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2023-06-22", "outcome_note": "Kabas remained free pending appeal as of the sources reviewed, with a further trial on the same Article 299 charge continuing in mid-2023.", "ladder_note": "A journalist was jailed overnight and convicted under a criminal insult law for one televised remark about the head of state, with prosecution continuing over a year later.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-turkiye-sedef-kabas-insulting-president" }, { "slug": "2023-turkiye-detains-journalists-disinformation-law", "title": "Turkish authorities detain three journalists under 'disinformation' law", "occurred_on": "2023-11-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "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": "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…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Two of the three journalists were released within a day; Tolga Sardan remained jailed pending trial.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-detains-journalists-disinformation-law" }, { "slug": "2024-hong-kong-stand-news-editors-convicted-sedition", "title": "Hong Kong court convicts Stand News editors of sedition", "occurred_on": "2024-08-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "john-lee", "leader_name": "John Lee", "what_was_done": "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.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2024-09-26", "outcome_note": "Both editors were sentenced in September 2024; no reversal of the convictions was reported.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-hong-kong-stand-news-editors-convicted-sedition" }, { "slug": "2026-india-journalist-sentenced-adani-defamation", "title": "India: one-year prison sentence for the journalist Ravi Nair in a criminal defamation case, February 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-02-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "punish", "focal_case": false, "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "what_was_done": "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.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2026-02-10", "outcome_note": "Sentenced on 2026-02-10; no appeal or ruling on appeal appears in the sources cited.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-india-journalist-sentenced-adani-defamation" } ] }, { "stage": "eliminate", "name": "Eliminate", "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence", "title": "Thailand: magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is sentenced to 11 years under the lese-majeste law", "occurred_on": "2013-01-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "TH", "country_name": "Thailand", "continent": "asia", "rsf": null, "leader_slug": "yingluck-shinawatra", "leader_name": "Yingluck Shinawatra", "what_was_done": "A Thai court sentenced magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk to 11 years in prison under Article 112 of the penal code, the country's lese-majeste law barring insults to the royal family, over two articles he published under a pen name.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2018-04-30", "outcome_note": "Somyot's conviction and sentence were not overturned; he served his full 11-year term and was released on completing it in April 2018.", "ladder_note": "An editor received an 11-year sentence under a royal insult law for articles written by someone else, and served the sentence in full before release.", "sources_count": 3, "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws?continent=asia&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws.json?continent=asia", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws.md?continent=asia" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }