{
  "title": "Ladder: surveillance and subpoenas, in Europe",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas?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": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
    "name": "Surveillance and subpoenas",
    "definition": "A government collects journalists' communications or records, often to learn who their sources are. Methods include subpoenas (court orders to hand over records or to testify), search warrants, seizure of phones and notes, demands to telephone and internet companies, and spyware placed on reporters' devices.",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/surveillance_and_subpoenas"
  },
  "focal_case": "US",
  "count": 2,
  "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": "2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives",
          "title": "United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden files",
          "occurred_on": "2013-08-18",
          "occurred_on_precision": "day",
          "stage": "punish",
          "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": "david-cameron",
          "leader_name": "David Cameron",
          "what_was_done": "British authorities detained David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours at Heathrow Airport under anti-terrorism powers, and separately had Guardian staff destroy hard drives holding files leaked by Edward Snowden rather than hand them to a court.",
          "outcome": "upheld",
          "outcome_on": "2016-01-19",
          "outcome_note": "The Court of Appeal ruled in January 2016 that Miranda's detention itself was lawful, but found Schedule 7's stop powers incompatible with press-freedom protections for journalistic material generally.",
          "ladder_note": null,
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
          "tactics": [
            "detention_and_violence",
            "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives"
        },
        {
          "slug": "2021-hungary-panyi-pegasus-spyware",
          "title": "Hungary: investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware",
          "occurred_on": "2021-07-01",
          "occurred_on_precision": "month",
          "stage": "punish",
          "focal_case": false,
          "country": "HU",
          "country_name": "Hungary",
          "continent": "europe",
          "rsf": {
            "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
            "year": 2026,
            "rank": 74,
            "of": 180,
            "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
            "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
          },
          "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
          "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
          "what_was_done": "Amnesty International found forensic traces of Pegasus spyware on the phone of Direkt36 investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, who covers Hungarian national security and diplomacy, as part of the wider Pegasus Project investigation.",
          "outcome": "ongoing",
          "outcome_on": "2021-07-01",
          "outcome_note": "The finding prompted European Union scrutiny of Pegasus use against journalists, but the source reviewed does not report any Hungarian accountability measure.",
          "ladder_note": "A journalist's phone was covertly infected with spyware capable of reading his communications and locating his sources, rather than a subpoena for records already created.",
          "sources_count": 3,
          "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
          "tactics": [
            "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
          ],
          "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-panyi-pegasus-spyware"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas?continent=europe&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas.json?continent=europe",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas.md?continent=europe"
  },
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}