# Ladder: shutdowns and blocking, in Oceania

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.

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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