{
  "title": "Ladder: insult and defamation laws, in North America",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws?continent=north-america",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "north-america"
  },
  "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": 2,
  "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": "1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions",
          "title": "United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reporting",
          "occurred_on": "1909-03-04",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "punish",
          "focal_case": true,
          "country": "US",
          "country_name": "United States",
          "continent": "north-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 64,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "theodore-roosevelt",
          "leader_name": "Theodore Roosevelt",
          "what_was_done": "President Theodore Roosevelt sought federal criminal libel indictments against the publishers of the New York World and the Indianapolis News after they reported that he and other officials had profited from the United States' purchase of the Panama Canal.",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "1911-01-03",
          "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's 1911 ruling that no federal criminal libel law existed for offenses on federal enclaves left the World and the News without convictions and was later described as an early safeguard for the freedom of the press.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
          "tactics": [
            "insult_and_defamation_laws",
            "lawsuits_against_press"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel",
          "title": "United States: Montgomery, Alabama commissioner sues The New York Times for libel over a civil rights advertisement",
          "occurred_on": "1960-01-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "year",
          "stage": "punish",
          "focal_case": true,
          "country": "US",
          "country_name": "United States",
          "continent": "north-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 64,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "john-patterson",
          "leader_name": "John Patterson",
          "what_was_done": "L. B. Sullivan, an elected Montgomery, Alabama city commissioner who supervised the police department, sued The New York Times for libel over a 1960 civil rights advertisement and won a $500,000 jury verdict.",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "1964-03-09",
          "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court of the United States reversed the Alabama libel judgment on March 9, 1964, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press",
          "tactics": [
            "insult_and_defamation_laws",
            "lawsuits_against_press"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws?continent=north-america&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws.json?continent=north-america",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/insult_and_defamation_laws.md?continent=north-america"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}