{
  "title": "Ladder: prior restraint, in Asia",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?continent=asia",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "asia"
  },
  "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": 9,
  "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": "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": "2023-turkiye-rtuk-fines-earthquake-coverage",
          "title": "Türkiye: the broadcast regulator fines and suspends channels for earthquake coverage",
          "occurred_on": "2023-02-22",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "pressure",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "TR",
          "country_name": "Türkiye",
          "continent": "asia",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 163,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan",
          "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan",
          "what_was_done": "Türkiye's broadcast regulator, RTUK, fined three television channels and suspended the next five episodes of two of their programs after they aired criticism of the government's response to the February 2023 earthquakes.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "2023-02-22",
          "outcome_note": "CPJ called for the penalties to be revoked; the source reviewed does not report that RTUK did so.",
          "ladder_note": "A national regulator barred two programs from airing at all for five future episodes over their earthquake coverage, a forward restriction rather than a single broadcast ban.",
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-rtuk-fines-earthquake-coverage"
        },
        {
          "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": "1937-japan-newspaper-law-war-censorship",
          "title": "Japan: government requires clearance to publish war news under the Newspaper Law, 1937",
          "occurred_on": "1937-07-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "JP",
          "country_name": "Japan",
          "continent": "asia",
          "rsf": null,
          "leader_slug": "fumimaro-konoe",
          "leader_name": "Fumimaro Konoe",
          "what_was_done": "After Japan's war with China escalated into full scale conflict in July 1937, the government invoked Article 27 of the Newspaper Law to require government clearance before publishing war related news, while a Home Ministry directive to local officials banned the printing of what it called \"fallacie…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": null,
          "outcome_note": "By the government's own assessment, most newspapers were already shaping their coverage to what officials wanted before formal rejection was needed.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1937-japan-newspaper-law-war-censorship"
        },
        {
          "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": "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 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": "2010-israel-prisoner-x-gag-order",
          "title": "Israel: a court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' case",
          "occurred_on": "2010-06-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "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": "benjamin-netanyahu",
          "leader_name": "Benjamin Netanyahu",
          "what_was_done": "An Israeli judge ordered Israeli media barred from any mention of a prisoner held under a false identity, or of the order itself, applying a system under which security-related stories must be reviewed and cleared by the military before publication.",
          "outcome": "unknown",
          "outcome_on": "2010-06-01",
          "outcome_note": "The source reviewed, a 2013 annual survey, documents the order's existence and Israel's wider military review system without stating when the domestic order was resolved.",
          "ladder_note": "A court order barred any domestic mention of a named prisoner's case or of the order itself, backed by a standing system requiring advance approval of security reporting.",
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-israel-prisoner-x-gag-order"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
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    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.md?continent=asia"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}