{ "title": "Ladder: prior restraint, in North America", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?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": "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": 10, "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" } ] }, { "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": "Minnesota closes The Saturday Press in 1927; the Supreme Court strikes down the law in 1931", "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": "1938-us-lovell-v-griffin-permit-requirement", "title": "United States: Supreme Court strikes down a Georgia city's permit requirement for distributing literature, 1938", "occurred_on": "1938-03-28", "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": "eurith-d-rivers", "leader_name": "Eurith D. Rivers", "what_was_done": "The city of Griffin, Georgia, required written permission from the city manager before anyone could distribute pamphlets, circulars or magazines within its limits, treating unlicensed distribution as a punishable nuisance.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1938-03-28", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court reversed Lovell's conviction and sent the case back for further proceedings consistent with its ruling.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1938-us-lovell-v-griffin-permit-requirement" }, { "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": "1975-us-nebraska-press-v-stuart-restrictive-order", "title": "United States judge bars the press from reporting a murder suspect's confession before trial", "occurred_on": "1975-10-27", "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": "j-james-exon", "leader_name": "J. James Exon", "what_was_done": "On October 27, 1975, Nebraska District Judge Hugh Stuart ordered news organizations covering a mass murder near Sutherland, Nebraska, not to report a suspect's confession or other evidence before jury selection.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1976-06-30", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court of the United States reversed the restrictive order on June 30, 1976, finding the government had not met the heavy burden required to justify a prior restraint on publication.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1975-us-nebraska-press-v-stuart-restrictive-order" }, { "slug": "1990-us-cnn-noriega-prior-restraint", "title": "United States federal court bars CNN from broadcasting recordings of Manuel Noriega's calls with his lawyers", "occurred_on": "1990-11-08", "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": "george-hw-bush", "leader_name": "George H. W. Bush", "what_was_done": "In November 1990, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Cable News Network to stop broadcasting tape recordings of jailed former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's telephone conversations with his defense lawyers.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1990-11-18", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court of the United States denied Cable News Network's request to stay the restraining orders and denied its petition for certiorari on November 18, 1990, over a dissent from Justices Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O'Connor.", "ladder_note": null, "sources_count": 2, "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1990-us-cnn-noriega-prior-restraint" }, { "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/prior_restraint?continent=north-america&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.json?continent=north-america", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.md?continent=north-america" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }