{
  "title": "Ladder: prior restraint, in Africa",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?continent=africa",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "africa"
  },
  "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": 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": "2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa",
          "title": "Egypt: a license requirement leaves an independent news site unable to operate legally for years",
          "occurred_on": "2018-10-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "EG",
          "country_name": "Egypt",
          "continent": "africa",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 169,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "abdel-fattah-el-sisi",
          "leader_name": "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi",
          "what_was_done": "Egypt's Supreme Council for Media Regulation required news websites to obtain a government license to operate, and independent outlet Al-Manassa's application, filed in 2018, went unanswered for more than two years.",
          "outcome": "ongoing",
          "outcome_on": "2020-10-26",
          "outcome_note": "Al-Manassa's editor said the outlet's 2018 license application had received no response as of the October 2020 interview.",
          "ladder_note": "A national council required a license before a news site could operate at all and left the application unanswered for years rather than approving, denying or fining it.",
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-egypt-scmr-license-requirement-al-manassa"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "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": "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": "1950-07-17",
          "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": "1991-07-31",
          "outcome_note": "The \"Internal Security and Intimidation Amendment Act\" repealed section 55 of the Suppression of Communism Act, which had prohibited furthering the aims of communism, on July 31, 1991; broader banning orders under the act and its successors had already been lifted the year before, in February 1990.{c:731}",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 4,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "outlet_licensing",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?continent=africa&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.json?continent=africa",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.md?continent=africa"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}