{ "title": "Ladder: prior restraint", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint", "filters": {}, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "tactic": { "slug": "prior_restraint", "name": "Prior restraint", "definition": "An order or rule that stops something from being published before it appears, rather than penalising it afterwards. Examples are boards that must approve articles, books or films before release, court injunctions against publication, and rules that require officials to review material before it is published.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/prior_restraint" }, "focal_case": "US", "count": 21, "stages": [ { "stage": "restrict", "name": "Restrict", "definition": "Limiting access or credentials for particular reporters or outlets: bans from briefings or buildings, pool changes, credential revocations, accreditation refusals.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq", "title": "Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq", "occurred_on": "2003-02-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "restrict", "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": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "what_was_done": "Ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon assigned about 600 journalists to travel with United States military units under written ground rules restricting what they could report about troop numbers, operations and casualties.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2003-04-14", "outcome_note": "The embedding program ran through the invasion and became the Pentagon's standard model for media access in later conflicts.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq" }, { "slug": "2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication", "title": "Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release", "occurred_on": "2020-09-12", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "restrict", "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": "Reporting in 2020 found that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote or edited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public coronavirus guidance and its weekly scientific bulletin before release, bypassing the agency's normal scientific review.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No agency reversal of the practice was documented in the sources reviewed; a congressional investigation examined the interference without a public admission of wrongdoing.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication" }, { "slug": "2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules", "title": "United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-09-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "restrict", "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 19, 2025, the United States Department of Defense, the federal department that provides the country's military forces, issued new credential rules for reporters at the Pentagon, its headquarters building, under the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2026-04-09", "outcome_note": "Judge Paul Friedman ruled against the credential-revocation provisions on 2026-03-20 and against the revised policy on 2026-04-09; the Department of Defense appealed.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 5, "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "credential_control", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules" } ] }, { "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": "1941-us-office-of-censorship-wartime-press-code", "title": "United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press", "occurred_on": "1941-12-19", "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": "franklin-d-roosevelt", "leader_name": "Franklin D. Roosevelt", "what_was_done": "Twelve days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Office of Censorship.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1945-09-28", "outcome_note": "The Office of Censorship operated on the press's voluntary compliance through the war and was abolished by executive order after Japan's surrender.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1941-us-office-of-censorship-wartime-press-code" }, { "slug": "2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices", "title": "Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban", "occurred_on": "2023-02-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "what_was_done": "India's Income Tax Department searched BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai for alleged tax evasion, three weeks after the government used emergency powers to block a BBC documentary examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to 2002 communal violence.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "No penalty or further tax action against the BBC was reported; the broadcaster's India operations continued.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices" }, { "slug": "2024-india-court-strikes-down-fact-check-unit", "title": "Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule", "occurred_on": "2024-03-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "pressure", "focal_case": false, "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "what_was_done": "India's 2023 amendment to its Information Technology Rules empowered a government-run Fact Check Unit to label online content about the central government 'fake' or 'false' and require its removal; comedian Kunal Kamra and media groups challenged it, and the Bombay High Court struck the rule down a…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-09-20", "outcome_note": "The Bombay High Court struck down the rule, finding its key terms 'vague and overbroad,' after the Supreme Court had already stayed its operation.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-india-court-strikes-down-fact-check-unit" } ] }, { "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": "1931-us-near-v-minnesota-gag-law", "title": "United States Supreme Court strikes down a Minnesota law used to shut a newspaper", "occurred_on": "1927-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "silence", "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-christianson", "leader_name": "Theodore Christianson", "what_was_done": "A Hennepin County attorney used Minnesota's 1925 Public Nuisance Law to shut down The Saturday Press, a Minneapolis paper accusing officials of corruption.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1931-06-01", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Minnesota law 5 to 4 as a restraint on publication in advance that the Constitution did not allow.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1931-us-near-v-minnesota-gag-law" }, { "slug": "1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction", "title": "United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers", "occurred_on": "1971-06-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "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": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "what_was_done": "After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1971-06-30", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the government's request for an injunction against publication failed to overcome the heavy presumption against prior restraint.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction" }, { "slug": "1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship", "title": "Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication", "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, under Vladimir Lenin's government, Soviet Russia created Glavlit, a single agency with final authority to review 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-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship", "title": "Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press press controls under a new constitution", "occurred_on": "1933-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "PT", "country_name": "Portugal", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 10, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "antonio-salazar", "leader_name": "António de Oliveira Salazar", "what_was_done": "Portugal's government, led by Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, had restricted the press since a 1926 military coup while officially denying it did so.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1974-04-25", "outcome_note": "Portugal's press controls apparatus ended with the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which overthrew the Estado Novo.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship" }, { "slug": "1938-spain-franco-press-law", "title": "Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law", "occurred_on": "1938-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "ES", "country_name": "Spain", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 29, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "francisco-franco", "leader_name": "Francisco Franco", "what_was_done": "While Spain's civil war continued, the Nationalist government led by Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 requiring government permission to found a newspaper, work as a journalist or direct a paper, alongside continued pre-publication press controls and years-long prison terms for va…", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-04-01", "outcome_note": "Spain abolished prior press press controls by decree in April 1977, after Franco's 1975 death, ahead of the 1978 constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "insult_and_defamation_laws", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1938-spain-franco-press-law" }, { "slug": "1939-brazil-vargas-creates-dip", "title": "Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers", "occurred_on": "1939-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "BR", "country_name": "Brazil", "continent": "south-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 52, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "getulio-vargas", "leader_name": "Getúlio Vargas", "what_was_done": "President Getúlio Vargas created the Department of Press and state messaging in 1939 during Brazil's Estado Novo dictatorship, giving the government direct control over what newspapers, radio and film could publish.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1945-01-01", "outcome_note": "The DIP was dissolved in 1945 when the military removed Vargas from power and the Estado Novo dictatorship ended.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1939-brazil-vargas-creates-dip" }, { "slug": "1944-australia-calwell-newspaper-seizure", "title": "Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules", "occurred_on": "1944-04-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "AU", "country_name": "Australia", "continent": "oceania", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 33, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "john-curtin", "leader_name": "John Curtin", "what_was_done": "Australia's wartime government, under Prime Minister John Curtin, controlled press coverage of military events through the Department of Information.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1944-04-18", "outcome_note": "The High Court of Australia granted an injunction days after the seizure, blocking further suppression of the newspaper's editions.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1944-australia-calwell-newspaper-seizure" }, { "slug": "1948-israel-military-censorship-established", "title": "Israel retains a British-era law giving the military the power to review and restrict the press", "occurred_on": "1948-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "IL", "country_name": "Israel", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "david-ben-gurion", "leader_name": "David Ben-Gurion", "what_was_done": "When Israel declared independence in 1948 under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, it retained a British Mandate-era Press Ordinance giving the military the power to review and restrict publications on security grounds, later formalized through an Editors' Committee that let most Israeli newspapers s…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "The military press-review system built on the 1948 Press Ordinance and the 1953 Editors' Committee remained in force through the 1980s and beyond.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1948-israel-military-censorship-established" }, { "slug": "1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act", "title": "South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals", "occurred_on": "1950-03-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "ZA", "country_name": "South Africa", "continent": "africa", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 21, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "daniel-francois-malan", "leader_name": "Daniel François Malan", "what_was_done": "Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1990-02-02", "outcome_note": "The government lifted bans on individuals and organizations under the act and its successors on February 2, 1990, as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act" }, { "slug": "1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship", "title": "Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controls", "occurred_on": "1968-08-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "CZ", "country_name": "Czechia", "continent": "europe", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 11, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country-czechia" }, "leader_slug": "alexander-dubcek", "leader_name": "Alexander Dubček", "what_was_done": "Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on August 20-21, 1968 to end the Prague Spring, a period of liberalization under Alexander Dubček that had included the lifting of press press controls.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1989-11-01", "outcome_note": "Formal press press controls in Czechoslovakia ended with the Velvet Revolution of November 1989, which brought down Communist Party rule.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship" }, { "slug": "1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures", "title": "Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law", "occurred_on": "1972-09-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "ferdinand-marcos", "leader_name": "Ferdinand Marcos", "what_was_done": "President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and the next day ordered the military to take over nearly every newspaper, radio and television station in the Philippines, jailing prominent publishers and editors and requiring government clearance for whatever remained.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1986-02-25", "outcome_note": "Marcos was removed from power in the People Power Revolution of February 22-25, 1986, ending martial-law controls on the Philippine press.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures" }, { "slug": "1975-india-emergency-press-censorship", "title": "India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency", "occurred_on": "1975-06-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "indira-gandhi", "leader_name": "Indira Gandhi", "what_was_done": "Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency on June 25, 1975, and the next day her government imposed pre-press controls on every Indian newspaper, requiring official clearance before publication and later forcibly merging the country's news agencies into one.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-03-21", "outcome_note": "Gandhi ended the Emergency and lifted press press controls on March 21, 1977, shortly before her party lost the general election that followed.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 1, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1975-india-emergency-press-censorship" }, { "slug": "1988-burma-slorc-press-scrutiny", "title": "Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power", "occurred_on": "1988-09-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "silence", "focal_case": false, "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "saw-maung", "leader_name": "Saw Maung", "what_was_done": "After crushing the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, Burma's new military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, tightened an existing pre-publication press controls board and raised penalties for unauthorized publishing to seven years in prison, while denying any press controls existe…", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "The Press Scrutiny Board's pre-publication press controls remained fully in force at the end of 1989 and continued operating for decades afterward.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-burma-slorc-press-scrutiny" }, { "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" } ] }, { "stage": "eliminate", "name": "Eliminate", "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.", "rungs": [ { "slug": "1976-argentina-junta-press-decrees", "title": "Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents", "occurred_on": "1976-03-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "stage": "eliminate", "focal_case": false, "country": "AR", "country_name": "Argentina", "continent": "south-america", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 98, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "leader_slug": "jorge-videla", "leader_name": "Jorge Rafael Videla", "what_was_done": "Hours after seizing power on March 24, 1976, Argentina's military junta, led by General Jorge Videla, issued Communiqué No. 19, threatening up to 10 years in prison for reporting favorable to groups it called subversive.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1983-12-10", "outcome_note": "Argentina returned to civilian, elected government under President Raúl Alfonsín in December 1983, ending the junta's press decrees.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1976-argentina-junta-press-decrees" } ] } ], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.json", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.md" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }