# Ladder: insult and defamation laws, in Asia

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.

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

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1901 | [Philippines](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ph) ([RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [William Howard Taft](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/william-howard-taft) | 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. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento) | Upheld by a court (1 January 1914) | 2 |
| 22 January 2022 | [Türkiye](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/tr) ([RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/recep-tayyip-erdogan) | 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. 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. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-turkiye-sedef-kabas-insulting-president) | Ongoing (22 June 2023) | 3 |
| 1 November 2023 | [Türkiye](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/tr) ([RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/recep-tayyip-erdogan) | 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](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-detains-journalists-disinformation-law) | Ongoing | 2 |
| 29 August 2024 | [Hong Kong](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hk) ([RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [John Lee](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/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](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-hong-kong-stand-news-editors-convicted-sedition) | Upheld by a court (26 September 2024) | 2 |
| 10 February 2026 | [India](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/in) ([RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Narendra Modi](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/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](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-india-journalist-sentenced-adani-defamation) | Unknown (10 February 2026) | 2 |

## Eliminate

Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 24 January 2013 | [Thailand](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/th) (RSF rank: not recorded) | [Yingluck Shinawatra](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/yingluck-shinawatra) | 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. 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. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-thailand-somyot-lese-majeste-sentence) | Upheld by a court (30 April 2018) | 3 |

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