{
  "title": "Ladder: licensing and closure of outlets, in North America",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing?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": "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": 2,
  "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": "2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension",
          "title": "United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025",
          "occurred_on": "2025-09-17",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "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": "donald-trump",
          "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
          "what_was_done": "On September 17, 2025, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the United States regulator of broadcasting, Brendan Carr, said broadcasters could \"do this the easy way or the hard way\" over remarks by the television host Jimmy Kimmel, and warned of \"additional work for the FCC…",
          "outcome": "reversed",
          "outcome_on": "2025-09-23",
          "outcome_note": "ABC announced the show's return for 2025-09-23 after about a week off the air, according to Al Jazeera (s112).",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "outlet_licensing"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "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": "1939-canada-defence-of-canada-regulations-censorship",
          "title": "Canada: War Measures Act regulations authorize review of hundreds of newspapers and ban political organizations",
          "occurred_on": "1939-09-03",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "CA",
          "country_name": "Canada",
          "continent": "north-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 20,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "william-lyon-mackenzie-king",
          "leader_name": "William Lyon Mackenzie King",
          "what_was_done": "Canada invoked the War Measures Act at the outset of the Second World War and used it to bring in the Defence of Canada Regulations, which gave the government power to review and restrict hundreds of newspapers and periodicals and to ban dozens of organizations, including the Communist Party of Can…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1945-12-31",
          "outcome_note": "The Defence of Canada Regulations remained in force for the duration of the war and were replaced by similar legislation on December 31, 1945.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "outlet_licensing",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1939-canada-defence-of-canada-regulations-censorship"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing?continent=north-america&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing.json?continent=north-america",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/outlet_licensing.md?continent=north-america"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}