# Ladder: surveillance and subpoenas, in Asia

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.

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).

## Pressure

Using state power short of prosecution to change coverage: regulatory threats, licence reviews, funding cuts, lawsuits by officials, official "fake news" or "foreign agent" labels, advertising pressure, tax audits.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 20 September 1998 | [Malaysia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/my) ([RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Mahathir Mohamad](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/mahathir-mohamad) | After Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government arrested former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, party-linked newspapers pressured staff to follow the official line, police visited journalists who interviewed his wife, and authorities said they would monitor internet traffi… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-malaysia-anwar-arrest-press-restrictions) | Unknown | 2 |
| 14 February 2023 | [India](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/in) ([RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Narendra Modi](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/narendra-modi) | India's Income Tax Department searched BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai for alleged tax evasion, three weeks after the government used emergency powers to block a BBC documentary examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's response to 2002 communal violence. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices) | Unknown | 1 |

## Punish

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.

| Date | Country | Head of government | What was done | Outcome | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 October 2018 | [Saudi Arabia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/sa) ([RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/king-salman) | Citizen Lab found Pegasus spyware on the phone of Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a close associate and collaborator of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, one day before Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi inside the country's Istanbul consulate. Note: A journalist's close collaborator was covertly surveilled one day before the journalist himself was killed inside his own country's consulate. [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate) | Unknown (1 October 2018) | 3 |
| 3 February 2025 | [Bangladesh](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/bd) ([RSF 2026 rank: 152nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Muhammad Yunus](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/muhammad-yunus) | On a single day in February 2025, groups of men beat at least eight journalists in two separate incidents in rural Bangladesh while they investigated a medical-negligence tip and a land dispute; the incidents came as the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus drafted new cyber ordinances rights g… [Full entry](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-bangladesh-journalists-attacked-interim-government) | Ongoing | 1 |

Download this ladder. CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com".
- CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas?continent=asia&format=csv
- JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas.json?continent=asia
- Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas.md?continent=asia

All ladders: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders. United States chapter: https://thewaronnews.com/united-states

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/ladders/surveillance_and_subpoenas?continent=asia. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.