{
  "title": "Ladder: licensing and closure of outlets, in Europe",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing?continent=europe",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe"
  },
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "tactic": {
    "slug": "outlet_licensing",
    "name": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
    "definition": "A government requires newspapers, broadcasters or news websites to register or to hold a licence, and uses that power to refuse, suspend or cancel it, or to close the outlet. Broadcast licences, which governments issue because radio and television frequencies are limited, are a common lever.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/outlet_licensing"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 10,
  "stages": [
    {
      "stage": "pressure",
      "name": "Pressure",
      "definition": "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.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority",
          "title": "Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage",
          "occurred_on": "2010-12-21",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "HU",
          "country_name": "Hungary",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 74,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
          "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
          "what_was_done": "Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public moral…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "2011-01-01",
          "outcome_note": "The law took effect January 1, 2011, and, after European Union criticism, Hungary amended some provisions in 2011 but kept the media authority's core licensing and fining powers.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 1,
          "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority"
        },
        {
          "slug": "2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr",
          "title": "Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR",
          "occurred_on": "2024-06-20",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "SK",
          "country_name": "Slovakia",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 37,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "robert-fico",
          "leader_name": "Robert Fico",
          "what_was_done": "Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism fro…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "2024-07-01",
          "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "stage": "silence",
      "name": "Silence",
      "definition": "Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship",
          "title": "Glavlit created: Soviet censorship office, 1922",
          "occurred_on": "1922-01-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "year",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "RU",
          "country_name": "Russia",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 172,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "vladimir-lenin",
          "leader_name": "Vladimir Lenin",
          "what_was_done": "In 1922, Soviet Russia created Glavlit, a single agency that reviewed newspapers, books, plays and even posters before they could be printed or performed.",
          "outcome": "ongoing",
          "outcome_on": "1989-01-01",
          "outcome_note": "Glavlit's authority over publishing was still largely intact through the 1980s, though its standards were relaxed from 1988 under Gorbachev's glasnost policy before its 1991 dissolution.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1933-germany-reichstag-fire-decree-press-suspension",
          "title": "Germany: Reichstag Fire Decree suspends freedom of the press, February 1933",
          "occurred_on": "1933-02-28",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "DE",
          "country_name": "Germany",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 14,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "adolf-hitler",
          "leader_name": "Adolf Hitler",
          "what_was_done": "Weeks after Adolf Hitler became German chancellor, the government used a fire that heavily damaged the Reichstag building to obtain President Paul von Hindenburg's approval for a decree suspending the constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press, along with the rights to assembly and free expre…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1945-05-01",
          "outcome_note": "The decree remained in force until Germany's defeat in May 1945.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-germany-reichstag-fire-decree-press-suspension"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1933-germany-editors-law",
          "title": "Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists, 1933",
          "occurred_on": "1933-10-04",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "DE",
          "country_name": "Germany",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 14,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "adolf-hitler",
          "leader_name": "Adolf Hitler",
          "what_was_done": "In 1933, Germany's Editors Law (Schriftleitergesetz) required journalists to register with a new state-controlled Reich Press Chamber and barred non-Aryans from the profession.",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "1945-05-08",
          "outcome_note": "The Editors Law and the Reich Press Chamber ended with Nazi Germany's defeat and unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "credential_control",
          "tactics": [
            "credential_control",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-germany-editors-law"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1941-greece-directorate-general-press-radio",
          "title": "Greece: collaborationist government creates a Directorate-General for Press and Radio to review films and publications before release",
          "occurred_on": "1941-05-08",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "GR",
          "country_name": "Greece",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": null,
          "leader_slug": "georgios-tsolakoglou",
          "leader_name": "Georgios Tsolakoglou",
          "what_was_done": "The collaborationist government installed in occupied Greece created a Directorate-General for Press and Radio to take over and expand the prior review powers of the prewar Metaxas dictatorship, requiring official permission before films, plays, music, and publications could reach the public.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": null,
          "outcome_note": "The Directorate-General continued to license and review films and publications, with German Embassy oversight, through the years covered by its surviving archive.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1941-greece-directorate-general-press-radio"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein",
          "title": "United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices",
          "occurred_on": "1988-10-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "GB",
          "country_name": "United Kingdom",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 18,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "margaret-thatcher",
          "leader_name": "Margaret Thatcher",
          "what_was_done": "Home Secretary Douglas Hurd directed British broadcasters in October 1988 not to air the voices of representatives of Sinn Féin, a party linked to the Irish Republican Army, and other groups linked to violence in Northern Ireland.",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "1994-09-16",
          "outcome_note": "The broadcasting ban was lifted on September 16, 1994, shortly after the Irish Republican Army's August 1994 ceasefire declaration.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 1,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein"
        },
        {
          "slug": "2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv",
          "title": "State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network",
          "occurred_on": "2001-04-14",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "RU",
          "country_name": "Russia",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 172,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
          "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
          "what_was_done": "Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "2001-04-14",
          "outcome_note": "The takeover was not reversed; most of NTV's original staff resigned in the following weeks rather than work under the new management.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 1,
          "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv"
        },
        {
          "slug": "2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license",
          "title": "Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application",
          "occurred_on": "2021-02-14",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "HU",
          "country_name": "Hungary",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 74,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
          "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
          "what_was_done": "Hungary's Media Council ended Klubradio's decades-old terrestrial broadcast license, citing errors in its renewal application, after the station had built a following as one of the country's few remaining independent voices.",
          "outcome": "upheld",
          "outcome_on": "2021-09-01",
          "outcome_note": "Hungary's Curia upheld the Media Council's denial of Klubradio's license renewal in September 2021.",
          "ladder_note": "A national broadcast regulator ended one of the country's last independent stations' terrestrial license over its paperwork, and the country's top court upheld the decision.",
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license"
        },
        {
          "slug": "2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
          "title": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license",
          "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "RU",
          "country_name": "Russia",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 172,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
          "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
          "what_was_done": "A Moscow court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after the media regulator Roskomnadzor said the paper had not provided documents about a 2006 change of ownership.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
          "outcome_note": "The Basmanny District Court's suspension of the print license stood as of the ruling, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
          "ladder_note": "A national court ended a Nobel-recognized newspaper's print license outright over a sixteen-year-old paperwork dispute, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
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    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing.json?continent=europe",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing.md?continent=europe"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}