# Ladder: prior restraint, in Oceania

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.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Narrow with ?stage= (restrict, pressure, punish, silence, eliminate), ?continent=, ?from= and ?to= (year or date).

## Silence

Removing outlets or channels from the public sphere: closures, licence withdrawals, forced sales, blocking and shutdowns, prior restraint, nationalisation.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 16 April 1944 | [Australia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/au) ([RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [John Curtin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/john-curtin) | Australia's wartime government, under Prime Minister John Curtin, controlled press coverage of military events through the Department of Information. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1944-australia-calwell-newspaper-seizure) | Reversed (18 April 1944) | 2 |

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