# Ladder: lawsuits against the press, in Europe

A government, a government agency or an official sues a journalist or a news organisation, usually for defamation or breach of contract, whether the official acts in office or in a personal capacity. Lawsuits that fail can still cost the defendant years of work and large legal fees.

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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| February 2017 | [Malta](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/mt) (RSF rank: not recorded) | [Joseph Muscat](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/joseph-muscat) | A month after journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia published reporting on members of Malta's government, the economy minister had her bank account frozen, one of dozens of legal actions she faced before she was killed in a car bombing in October 2017. Note: A minister ordered a reporter's bank account frozen a month after her story on his colleagues, one of dozens of suits filed against her before her killing; United States lawsuits against the press in the record have not frozen a journalist's assets. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-malta-freezes-caruana-galizia-account) | Unknown | 3 |
| 26 October 2018 | [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) | A Moscow court fined the magazine The New Times 22.3 million rubles, about $338,000, for a paperwork lapse under Russia's foreign agents law, a sum its editor said was designed to force the outlet to close. Note: A court fined an outlet $338,000 over a foreign agents paperwork lapse, a sum its editor said was designed to force its closure; United States lawsuits against the press have not sought a fine that could end an outlet's operations. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-russia-fines-the-new-times) | Ongoing (26 October 2018) | 3 |

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All ladders: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders. United States chapter: https://thewaronnews.com/united-states

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/lawsuits_against_press?continent=europe. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.