{
  "title": "Ladder: secrets and espionage laws, in Europe",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws?continent=europe",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe"
  },
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "tactic": {
    "slug": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
    "name": "Secrets and espionage laws",
    "definition": "Laws that make it a crime to obtain, keep or disclose information a government has classified as secret, such as the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, or the Official Secrets Acts of the United Kingdom. Governments use them to prosecute journalists or, more often, the officials who gave journalists information.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/secrets_and_espionage_laws"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 2,
  "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": "1914-britain-press-bureau-controls-wartime-newspaper-coverage",
          "title": "Britain's Official Press Bureau controls newspaper coverage of the First World War",
          "occurred_on": "1914-08-27",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "GB",
          "country_name": "United Kingdom",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 18,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "herbert-asquith",
          "leader_name": "Herbert Henry Asquith",
          "what_was_done": "Weeks after Britain entered the First World War, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith told the House of Commons that the Official Press Bureau was the sole channel through which the Admiralty, the War Office and other departments released naval and military information to newspapers.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1914-11-12",
          "outcome_note": "The Press Bureau continued controlling war news months later, when members of Parliament again raised complaints in the House of Commons on November 12, 1914.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
          "tactics": [
            "prior_restraint",
            "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1914-britain-press-bureau-controls-wartime-newspaper-coverage"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "name": "Eliminate",
      "definition": "Long imprisonment, killing, disappearance or forced exile of journalists, with state involvement as the sources state it.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "2022-russia-safronov-treason-sentence",
          "title": "Russia: journalist Ivan Safronov is sentenced to 22 years for treason",
          "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "eliminate",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "RU",
          "country_name": "Russia",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 172,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
          "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
          "what_was_done": "A Russian court sentenced military correspondent Ivan Safronov to 22 years in prison for treason, accusing him of spying for a foreign state, in a case his supporters linked to his 2019 reporting on Russian arms sales to Egypt.",
          "outcome": "ongoing",
          "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
          "outcome_note": "Safronov received a 22-year sentence and planned to appeal; the source reviewed does not report a ruling on any appeal.",
          "ladder_note": "A journalist received a 22-year sentence for treason in a case linked to his own earlier reporting, far longer than any credential, licensing or fine-based restriction.",
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
          "tactics": [
            "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-safronov-treason-sentence"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws?continent=europe&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws.json?continent=europe",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/secrets_and_espionage_laws.md?continent=europe"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}