{
  "title": "Ladder: prior restraint, in South America",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint?continent=south-america",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "south-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": 3,
  "stages": [
    {
      "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-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": "1968-brazil-institutional-act-five-press-controls",
          "title": "Brazil's military government decrees the Fifth Institutional Act and moves to control the press",
          "occurred_on": "1968-12-13",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "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": "artur-costa-e-silva",
          "leader_name": "Artur da Costa e Silva",
          "what_was_done": "On the night of December 13, 1968, Brazil's military government, led by President Artur da Costa e Silva, decreed the Fifth Institutional Act, suspending constitutional guarantees and recessing the national Congress.",
          "outcome": "unknown",
          "outcome_on": null,
          "outcome_note": "The United States Embassy assessed at the time that a full restoration of press freedom in Brazil would be a long process.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
            "prior_restraint"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1968-brazil-institutional-act-five-press-controls"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "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": {
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    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.json?continent=south-america",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/prior_restraint.md?continent=south-america"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}