{ "title": "Search in Asia, outcome reversed", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=asia&outcome=reversed", "filters": { "continent": "asia", "outcome": "reversed" }, "sort": "date", "count": 10, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "AZ", "label": "Azerbaijan", "rsf": null }, { "value": "IN", "label": "India", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "IR", "label": "Iran", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 177, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "MM", "label": "Myanmar", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "KP", "label": "North Korea", "rsf": null }, { "value": "PH", "label": "Philippines", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "KR", "label": "South Korea", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 47, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "TR", "label": "Türkiye", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 163, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "asia", "label": "Asia" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 5 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 3 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 2 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 2 }, { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 2 }, { "value": "disinformation_labeling", "label": "Official labels", "count": 1 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "pressure", "label": "Pressure", "count": 2 }, { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 1 }, { "value": "silence", "label": "Silence", "count": 4 }, { "value": "eliminate", "label": "Eliminate", "count": 3 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 10 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 10 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "aung-san-suu-kyi", "label": "Aung San Suu Kyi" }, { "value": "chun-doo-hwan", "label": "Chun Doo-hwan" }, { "value": "ferdinand-marcos", "label": "Ferdinand Marcos" }, { "value": "hassan-rouhani", "label": "Hassan Rouhani" }, { "value": "ilham-aliyev", "label": "Ilham Aliyev" }, { "value": "indira-gandhi", "label": "Indira Gandhi" }, { "value": "kim-jong-il", "label": "Kim Jong Il" }, { "value": "narendra-modi", "label": "Narendra Modi" }, { "value": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "label": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" }, { "value": "rodrigo-duterte", "label": "Rodrigo Duterte" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1972", "label": "1972", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1975", "label": "1975", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1980", "label": "1980", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2009", "label": "2009", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2015", "label": "2015", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 10 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2024-india-court-strikes-down-fact-check-unit", "title": "Bombay High Court strikes down India's government 'fact check unit' rule", "occurred_on": "2024-03-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "issue_of_the_day": "The government said the Fact Check Unit was needed to combat misinformation about its own policies and announcements online, at a time when it separately faced criticism over content restrictions ahead of India's 2024 general election.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-09-20", "outcome_note": "The Bombay High Court struck down the rule, finding its key terms 'vague and overbroad,' after the Supreme Court had already stayed its operation.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "India's 2023 amendment to its Information Technology Rules empowered a government-run Fact Check Unit to label online content about the central government 'fake' or 'false' and require its removal; comedian Kunal Kamra and media groups challenged it, and the Bombay High Court struck the rule down as unconstitutionally vague.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-india-court-strikes-down-fact-check-unit" }, { "slug": "2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive", "title": "Turkiye: the presidency's press card system is found restrictive by the country's top administrative court", "occurred_on": "2021-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "The 2018 rules had let the presidency cancel press cards for vaguely worded reasons, including \"diminishing the dignity of the media profession,\" and had been used against journalists dismissed or reassigned after the 2016 coup attempt.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2021-04-01", "outcome_note": "Turkiye's Council of State suspended the challenged 2018 press card regulation, though the source reviewed reports hundreds of journalists still waiting for cards afterward.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": "A national regulator controlled the credential every journalist needs to work and enter official buildings, denying or delaying cards for hundreds of reporters for years.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 163, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "reversed", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Turkiye's Council of State suspended 2018 rules under which the presidency's Communications Directorate could deny or cancel the yellow and turquoise press cards that let reporters work and enter official buildings, after finding the grounds for denial too broad.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-turkiye-press-card-controls-restrictive" }, { "slug": "2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown", "title": "Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests", "occurred_on": "2019-11-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IR", "country_name": "Iran", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "hassan-rouhani", "leader_name": "Hassan Rouhani", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-11-23", "outcome_note": "Internet connectivity was restored after roughly a week, according to the source reviewed, though the underlying criminal cases against arrested journalists continued.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal nationwide for nearly a week and arrested a journalist for reporting on the shutdown itself; no United States action in the record has cut off nationwide communications.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 177, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal levels nationwide for nearly a week during protests over fuel prices, while arresting at least eleven journalists, including one detained for reporting on the shutdown itself.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown" }, { "slug": "2019-philippines-arrests-ressa", "title": "Philippines: Rappler's Maria Ressa arrested over cyber libel case", "occurred_on": "2019-02-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "PH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "rodrigo-duterte", "leader_name": "Rodrigo Duterte", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-02-14", "outcome_note": "Ressa was released on bail the morning after her arrest; the underlying cyber libel case continued separately.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Philippine agents arrested an outlet's executive editor at her own newsroom over a story published years before the cybercrime law used to charge her existed; United States detentions in the record ended without charges filed.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Philippine agents arrested Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa at the outlet's Manila office and held her overnight on a cyber libel case tied to a 2012 story, published before the cybercrime law used to charge her existed.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-philippines-arrests-ressa" }, { "slug": "2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act", "title": "Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre", "occurred_on": "2018-09-03", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MM", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "aung-san-suu-kyi", "leader_name": "Aung San Suu Kyi", "issue_of_the_day": "The Reuters investigation into the killing of ten Rohingya Muslim men and boys by Myanmar soldiers and local residents in Inn Din village, Rakhine State, in September 2017.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-05-07", "outcome_note": "President Win Myint pardoned and released Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on May 7, 2019, after 511 days in prison, as part of a mass amnesty.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "Both reporters were pardoned in May 2019 after 511 days in prison.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 166, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A Myanmar court sentenced Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to seven years under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act after police handed them classified documents at a dinner shortly before their arrest, while they were investigating the killing of Rohingya Muslim villagers.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-myanmar-reuters-journalists-official-secrets-act" }, { "slug": "2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova", "title": "Azerbaijan: investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova sentenced to 7.5 years", "occurred_on": "2015-09-01", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "AZ", "country_name": "Azerbaijan", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "AZ", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "ilham-aliyev", "leader_name": "Ilham Aliyev", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2016-05-25", "outcome_note": "Azerbaijan's Supreme Court converted her sentence to a suspended term and ordered her released after about 538 days in custody.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "Azerbaijan imprisoned an investigative reporter for over a year on charges connected to her reporting on the president's family's business holdings; no United States case in the record has produced a multi-year sentence.", "rsf": null, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A Baku court convicted investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova on business and tax charges and sentenced her to seven and a half years in prison, in a case CPJ said was payback for her reporting on official corruption.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-azerbaijan-sentences-ismayilova" }, { "slug": "2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced", "title": "North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor", "occurred_on": "2009-06-08", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KP", "country_name": "North Korea", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KP", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "kim-jong-il", "leader_name": "Kim Jong Il", "issue_of_the_day": "Ling and Lee had been reporting near the China-North Korea border for the American outlet Current TV when they were detained by North Korean border guards in March 2009.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2009-08-04", "outcome_note": "North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned Ling and Lee after former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to secure their release.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "Two foreign journalists received a twenty-year hard-labor sentence for a border charge, resolved only by a former head of state's personal visit to the country's leader.", "rsf": null, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A North Korean court sentenced Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to twenty years of \"reform through hard labor\" after their arrest for crossing the border from China without authorization, and both were released months later following a visit by former President Bill Clinton.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2009-north-korea-ling-lee-sentenced" }, { "slug": "1980-south-korea-chun-doo-hwan-press-purge", "title": "South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls", "occurred_on": "1980-07-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KR", "country_name": "South Korea", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "chun-doo-hwan", "leader_name": "Chun Doo-hwan", "issue_of_the_day": "Chun Doo-hwan's military government had just suppressed a pro-democracy uprising centered in the city of Kwangju in May 1980, and used the purge to remove journalists it associated with resistance to press controls during that period.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1987-06-01", "outcome_note": "South Korea's June 1987 democracy movement led to direct presidential elections and an easing of press controls; a 1986 leak of secret press guidelines had already embarrassed the government.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 47, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Under General Chun Doo-hwan's martial-law government, South Korean authorities ordered newsrooms in 1980 to purge journalists who had resisted press controls or joined a May sit-in strike for press freedom, and closed 172 periodicals, dismissing roughly 2,000 journalists in total.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1980-south-korea-chun-doo-hwan-press-purge" }, { "slug": "1975-india-emergency-press-censorship", "title": "India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency", "occurred_on": "1975-06-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "indira-gandhi", "leader_name": "Indira Gandhi", "issue_of_the_day": "A court had found Prime Minister Gandhi guilty of election malpractice shortly before the Emergency began, and her government cited threats to internal stability in declaring the state of emergency and imposing press controls the next day.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-03-21", "outcome_note": "Gandhi ended the Emergency and lifted press controls on March 21, 1977, shortly before her party lost the general election that followed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 157, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency on June 25, 1975, and the next day her government imposed pre-press controls on every Indian newspaper, requiring official clearance before publication and later forcibly merging the country's news agencies into one.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1975-india-emergency-press-censorship" }, { "slug": "1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures", "title": "Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law", "occurred_on": "1972-09-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "PH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "ferdinand-marcos", "leader_name": "Ferdinand Marcos", "issue_of_the_day": "Marcos had declared martial law citing threats from Communist insurgency and civil unrest, and moved immediately to eliminate independent media coverage that might question the declaration or his expanding powers.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1986-02-25", "outcome_note": "Marcos was removed from power in the People Power Revolution of February 22-25, 1986, ending martial-law controls on the Philippine press.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and the next day ordered the military to take over nearly every newspaper, radio and television station in the Philippines, jailing prominent publishers and editors and requiring government clearance for whatever remained.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures" } ], "other_results": [], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=asia&outcome=reversed&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?continent=asia&outcome=reversed", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?continent=asia&outcome=reversed" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }