{
  "title": "Ladder: shutdowns and blocking, in South America",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/shutdowns_and_blocking?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": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
    "name": "Shutdowns and blocking",
    "definition": "A government cuts internet or mobile telephone service, blocks news websites or social media platforms, or jams radio and television signals, so that audiences cannot receive news and reporters cannot send it out.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/shutdowns_and_blocking"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 3,
  "stages": [
    {
      "stage": "punish",
      "name": "Punish",
      "definition": "Legal or physical action against individual journalists or sources: subpoenas and record seizures, prosecutions, arrests, detention, expulsions, visa denials, assault where a government actor is involved.",
      "rungs": [
        {
          "slug": "2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown",
          "title": "Venezuela detains, expels and restricts journalists after disputed 2024 election",
          "occurred_on": "2024-07-28",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "punish",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "VE",
          "country_name": "Venezuela",
          "continent": "south-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 159,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "nicolas-maduro",
          "leader_name": "Nicolas Maduro",
          "what_was_done": "In the two weeks after Venezuela's disputed July 28, 2024 presidential election, Reporters Without Borders documented 70 press-freedom violations, including nine detentions, nine expulsions of foreign correspondents and the suspension of the social media platform X, as President Nicolas Maduro's go…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": null,
          "outcome_note": "Detained journalists faced continuing prosecution, and social-platform restrictions remained in place after the documented period.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "expulsion_and_visa_denial",
            "shutdowns_and_blocking"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "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": "1951-argentina-peron-la-prensa-handed-to-cgt",
          "title": "Argentina: President Juan Perón's government hands the expropriated newspaper La Prensa to the CGT labor federation, October 1951",
          "occurred_on": "1951-10-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "stage": "silence",
          "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": "juan-peron",
          "leader_name": "Juan Perón",
          "what_was_done": "La Prensa, one of Argentina's leading newspapers and a longtime critic of President Juan Perón's government, was expropriated by the state earlier in 1951.",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1951-10-01",
          "outcome_note": "La Prensa remained under CGT control until Perón's government was overthrown in 1955, after which it was returned to its previous owners.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
          "tactics": [
            "outlet_licensing",
            "shutdowns_and_blocking"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1951-argentina-peron-la-prensa-handed-to-cgt"
        },
        {
          "slug": "1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown",
          "title": "Chile's military government shuts opposition radio stations and newspapers after the 1973 coup",
          "occurred_on": "1973-09-11",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "silence",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "CL",
          "country_name": "Chile",
          "continent": "south-america",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 70,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "augusto-pinochet",
          "leader_name": "Augusto Pinochet",
          "what_was_done": "On the day of the September 11, 1973 military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, Chile's armed forces bombed and shut down radio stations that opposed the takeover, arrested journalists and closed newspapers aligned with the ousted government, under the military junta led by Augusto Pi…",
          "outcome": "sustained",
          "outcome_on": "1990-03-01",
          "outcome_note": "Press restrictions continued under military rule until Chile's return to civilian government in March 1990, after Pinochet lost a 1988 plebiscite on his continued rule.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 2,
          "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "shutdowns_and_blocking"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
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    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/shutdowns_and_blocking.json?continent=south-america",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/shutdowns_and_blocking.md?continent=south-america"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}