{ "title": "Search in Asia, outcome sustained", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=asia&outcome=sustained&view=cards", "filters": { "continent": "asia", "outcome": "sustained", "view": "cards" }, "sort": "date", "count": 20, "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": "KH", "label": "Cambodia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "CN", "label": "China", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "GE", "label": "Georgia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 135, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 135th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "HK", "label": "Hong Kong", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "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": "IL", "label": "Israel", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th 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": "PK", "label": "Pakistan", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 153, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 153rd 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" } }, { "value": "VN", "label": "Viet Nam", "rsf": null } ], "continent": [ { "value": "asia", "label": "Asia" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 7 }, { "value": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "label": "Expulsion and visa denial", "count": 5 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 4 }, { "value": "access_ban", "label": "Access bans", "count": 3 }, { "value": "disinformation_labeling", "label": "Official labels", "count": 3 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 2 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 2 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 2 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "restrict", "label": "Restrict", "count": 1 }, { "value": "pressure", "label": "Pressure", "count": 3 }, { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 7 }, { "value": "silence", "label": "Silence", "count": 7 }, { "value": "eliminate", "label": "Eliminate", "count": 2 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 19 }, { "value": "state_or_province", "label": "State or province", "count": 1 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 20 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "carrie-lam", "label": "Carrie Lam" }, { "value": "hun-sen", "label": "Hun Sen" }, { "value": "irakli-kobakhidze", "label": "Irakli Kobakhidze" }, { "value": "john-lee", "label": "John Lee" }, { "value": "li-peng", "label": "Li Peng" }, { "value": "min-aung-hlaing", "label": "Min Aung Hlaing" }, { "value": "narendra-modi", "label": "Narendra Modi" }, { "value": "nguyen-tan-dung", "label": "Nguyen Tan Dung" }, { "value": "nguyen-xuan-phuc", "label": "Nguyen Xuan Phuc" }, { "value": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "label": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" }, { "value": "shehbaz-sharif", "label": "Shehbaz Sharif" }, { "value": "xi-jinping", "label": "Xi Jinping" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 12 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 7 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1989", "label": "1989", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2016", "label": "2016", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2017", "label": "2017", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 20 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2026-israel-maintains-ban-on-foreign-press-access-to-gaza", "title": "Israel: ban on independent entry of foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip, 2023 to 2026", "occurred_on": "2026-01-07", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IL", "country_name": "Israel", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": null, "leader_name": null, "issue_of_the_day": "The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-02-25", "outcome_note": "In effect as of CPJ's report of 2026-02-25; the government asked Israel's Supreme Court in January 2026 to keep the ban.", "stage": "restrict", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the government of Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast between Israel and Egypt, independently; foreign correspondents have entered only on trips escorted by the Israeli military. On January 7, 2026, Al Jazeera reported that the Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists from international news organizations, had condemned the government's decision to keep the ban. The government had told Israel's Supreme Court that the ban should be maintained due to \"security reasons,\" according to Al Jazeera. On February 25, 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the ban was still in place.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-israel-maintains-ban-on-foreign-press-access-to-gaza" }, { "slug": "2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law", "title": "China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026", "occurred_on": "2025-12-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "HK", "level": "state_or_province", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "john-lee", "leader_name": "John Lee", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2026-02-08", "outcome_note": "Sentenced to 20 years in prison on 2026-02-08; no appeal is recorded in the sources cited.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On December 15, 2025, the High Court of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China with its own courts, convicted Jimmy Lai, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, on two counts of \"conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces\" under the National Security Law, which China's central government imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, and one count of \"conspiracy to publish seditious publications.\" On February 8, 2026, the court sentenced Lai to 20 years in prison. Apple Daily shut down in June 2021 after its accounts were frozen and much of its top leadership was arrested. Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, called the charges \"bogus.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-hong-kong-convicts-jimmy-lai-under-national-security-law" }, { "slug": "2025-pakistan-amends-peca-cybercrime-law", "title": "Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content", "occurred_on": "2025-01-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PK", "country_name": "Pakistan", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "PK", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "shehbaz-sharif", "leader_name": "Shehbaz Sharif", "issue_of_the_day": "The government said the amendment was needed to curb online disinformation, but journalists said the new offense's vague wording, covering content merely believed likely to cause \"fear, panic, disorder or unrest,\" gave authorities broad discretion over ordinary reporting.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The amendment remained law despite nationwide journalist protests and a Human Rights Watch call for its repeal.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 153, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 153rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Pakistan's parliament amended the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act to create a new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority with power to block online content and a Social Media Protection Tribunal, and made spreading information deemed 'fake or false' punishable by up to three years in prison, prompting nationwide journalist protests.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pakistan-amends-peca-cybercrime-law" }, { "slug": "2024-georgia-foreign-influence-law", "title": "Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed", "occurred_on": "2024-05-28", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "GE", "country_name": "Georgia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "GE", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling", "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "irakli-kobakhidze", "leader_name": "Irakli Kobakhidze", "issue_of_the_day": "The governing Georgian Dream party framed the law as protecting Georgian sovereignty against foreign-funded groups it accused of trying to organize unrest, at a time when the party also faced growing opposition ahead of Georgia's 2024 parliamentary election.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The law took effect despite mass protests and international criticism; the governing party did not withdraw it.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 135, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 135th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Georgia's parliament passed a law requiring media and civil-society groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as organizations \"serving the interests of a foreign power,\" over mass street protests and international criticism that the label would be used to marginalize independent outlets.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-georgia-foreign-influence-law" }, { "slug": "2023-turkiye-rtuk-fines-earthquake-coverage", "title": "Turkiye: the broadcast regulator fines and suspends channels for earthquake coverage", "occurred_on": "2023-02-22", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Earthquakes in southern Turkiye in early February 2023 killed more than 50,000 people and drew widespread criticism of the government's building codes and disaster response.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2023-02-22", "outcome_note": "CPJ called for the penalties to be revoked; the source reviewed does not report that RTUK did so.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": "A national regulator barred two programs from airing at all for five future episodes over their earthquake coverage, a forward restriction rather than a single broadcast ban.", "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": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Turkiye's broadcast regulator, RTUK, fined three television channels and suspended the next five episodes of two of their programs after they aired criticism of the government's response to the February 2023 earthquakes.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-turkiye-rtuk-fines-earthquake-coverage" }, { "slug": "2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy", "title": "Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article", "occurred_on": "2023-02-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KH", "country_name": "Cambodia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "hun-sen", "leader_name": "Hun Sen", "issue_of_the_day": "The article, published February 8, 2023, reported that Hun Sen's son and eventual successor, Hun Manet, had overstepped his authority by signing a $100,000 earthquake aid agreement for Turkiye.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2023-02-13", "outcome_note": "The Ministry of Information revoked the license as Hun Sen ordered, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "The head of government personally ordered a national outlet's operating license revoked over one article, rejecting a published apology, rather than pursuing a defamation suit.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Prime Minister Hun Sen personally ordered the license of independent outlet Voice of Democracy revoked over an article about an earthquake-aid agreement signed by his son, rejecting the outlet's published apology.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy" }, { "slug": "2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence", "title": "Vietnam: journalist Pham Doan Trang is sentenced to nine years for anti-state \"propaganda\"", "occurred_on": "2021-12-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "VN", "country_name": "Viet Nam", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "VN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "nguyen-xuan-phuc", "leader_name": "Nguyen Xuan Phuc", "issue_of_the_day": "Trang had spent years writing and publishing independent reporting and commentary critical of the ruling Communist Party before her arrest, work for which she had already received international press freedom recognition.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-12-14", "outcome_note": "Trang's nine-year sentence stood as of the source reviewed, with no release reported in it.", "stage": "eliminate", "ladder_note": "An independent editor received a nine-year sentence under a national-security speech law for her journalism, not a licensing or credential dispute.", "rsf": null, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A Vietnamese court sentenced Pham Doan Trang, founding editor of the independent outlet The Vietnamese, to nine years in prison for distributing anti-state \"propaganda\" under a national-security provision of the country's penal code.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-vietnam-pham-doan-trang-nine-year-sentence" }, { "slug": "2021-hong-kong-apple-daily-forced-closure", "title": "China (Hong Kong): Apple Daily closes after its assets are frozen under the national security law", "occurred_on": "2021-06-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "HK", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "carrie-lam", "leader_name": "Carrie Lam", "issue_of_the_day": "The closure followed Hong Kong's 2019 to 2020 pro-democracy protests and Beijing's imposition of a national security law on the territory in June 2020, which criminalized broadly defined acts of subversion and collusion with foreign forces.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-06-24", "outcome_note": "Apple Daily did not resume publication and its former executives faced additional charges as of the December 2021 report reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A newspaper's assets were frozen and its senior editors charged with offenses carrying up to life imprisonment, ending publication entirely rather than a licensing dispute or fine.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 140, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Apple Daily, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy newspaper, printed its final edition after the government froze its parent company's assets and arrested its editors under the national security law imposed on the territory in 2020.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hong-kong-apple-daily-forced-closure" }, { "slug": "2021-myanmar-junta-revokes-media-licenses", "title": "Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup", "occurred_on": "2021-03-08", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MM", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "min-aung-hlaing", "leader_name": "Min Aung Hlaing", "issue_of_the_day": "The outlets had been covering nationwide protests against the military's February 1, 2021 seizure of power from Myanmar's elected government, coverage the junta sought to stop by removing the outlets' legal authorization to operate.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The five outlets' licenses were not restored; CPJ counted at least 32 journalists still imprisoned as of July 2021.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Weeks after seizing power, Myanmar's military junta revoked the operating licenses of five independent media outlets covering protests against the coup and raided two of their newsrooms, seizing computers and files; journalists from the outlets were later arrested and charged under a broadened penal-code provision on spreading 'false news.'", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-junta-revokes-media-licenses" }, { "slug": "2020-china-press-card-visa-restrictions-us-outlets", "title": "China: press credentials and visas withheld from correspondents at three American newspapers", "occurred_on": "2020-03-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "CN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "issue_of_the_day": "The findings covered a year in which China expelled dozens of foreign journalists amid tit-for-tat measures with the United States and additional restrictions tied to the coronavirus outbreak.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-03-03", "outcome_note": "The credential and visa denials were in force for the year covered by the survey, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Credentials and visas needed to work at all were denied to correspondents at three named outlets on a national scale, on top of earlier individual expulsion orders.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A survey by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China found the government refused new press credentials to journalists tied to American outlets and cancelled or refused visas for correspondents at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post through 2020.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-press-card-visa-restrictions-us-outlets" }, { "slug": "2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists", "title": "China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers", "occurred_on": "2020-03-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "CN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "issue_of_the_day": "The expulsions followed a rapid exchange of measures: a Wall Street Journal opinion piece China objected to, the U.S. capping Chinese state-media staff, and China's decision to expel American reporters from three outlets in response, all unfolding as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading globally.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The expelled journalists' press credentials were not restored; reciprocal media restrictions between the two countries continued for years afterward.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "China ordered American correspondents for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to leave the country, in a reciprocal response to the Trump administration capping the number of Chinese state-media employees allowed in the United States, which itself followed China's earlier expulsion of three Journal reporters over an opinion headline.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-us-newspaper-journalists" }, { "slug": "2020-china-expels-three-wsj-journalists-headline", "title": "China: three Wall Street Journal correspondents expelled over an opinion headline", "occurred_on": "2020-02-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "CN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "access_ban", "tactics": [ "access_ban" ], "leader_slug": "xi-jinping", "leader_name": "Xi Jinping", "issue_of_the_day": "The Wall Street Journal had published an opinion column on February 3, 2020, by an outside scholar, headlined \"China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia,\" about the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2020-02-19", "outcome_note": "The three journalists' press credentials were revoked and the expulsion carried out; no reversal is reported in the source reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Working correspondents were expelled from the country over content written by someone outside their newsroom, not barred from one building or event.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "China's foreign ministry expelled three Wall Street Journal correspondents and revoked their press credentials after an opinion column, unrelated to their own reporting, used a headline the ministry called offensive.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-china-expels-three-wsj-journalists-headline" }, { "slug": "2019-india-revokes-taseer-oci-status", "title": "India: journalist Aatish Taseer's overseas citizenship revoked", "occurred_on": "2019-11-07", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": "narendra-modi", "leader_name": "Narendra Modi", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2019-11-07", "outcome_note": "The cancellation was carried out and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "India revoked a journalist's long-term immigration status months after his cover story criticized the prime minister; the White House ban withdrew building access, not legal status to enter the country.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "India's government cancelled writer and journalist Aatish Taseer's Overseas Citizen of India status months after he wrote a Time magazine cover story critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing his father's Pakistani nationality.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-india-revokes-taseer-oci-status" }, { "slug": "2019-turkiye-deports-ans-boersma", "title": "Turkiye: Dutch freelance journalist Ans Boersma deported", "occurred_on": "2019-01-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2019-01-17", "outcome_note": "The deportation was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "A foreign correspondent was detained overnight and deported on an allegation her own government said it was never asked to confirm; the White House ban has not deported a journalist from the country.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Turkish authorities detained Dutch freelance journalist Ans Boersma while she tried to renew her residence permit in Istanbul and deported her the next day, citing an alleged link to a Syrian armed group that the Netherlands said it had never been asked about.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-turkiye-deports-ans-boersma" }, { "slug": "2018-turkiye-dogan-sells-to-demiroren", "title": "Turkiye: Dogan Holding sells its media outlets to Demiroren", "occurred_on": "2018-03-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2018-03-21", "outcome_note": "The sale closed and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "Turkiye's largest remaining independent newspaper and broadcast group was sold to a buyer with ties to the president, following two prior purchases that turned pro-government; United States pressure on owners has not produced a forced sale of this kind.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Turkiye's largest independent media group, including the newspaper Hurriyet and the broadcaster CNN Turk, was sold to the Demiroren conglomerate, a buyer with ties to the governing party, for a reported 1.1 billion dollars.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-turkiye-dogan-sells-to-demiroren" }, { "slug": "2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill", "title": "Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill", "occurred_on": "2017-09-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KH", "country_name": "Cambodia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "hun-sen", "leader_name": "Hun Sen", "issue_of_the_day": "Preparations for Cambodia's 2018 general election and a wider government campaign against independent media and civil-society groups seen as sympathetic to the opposition.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2017-09-04", "outcome_note": "The Cambodia Daily did not reopen; its closure coincided with a wider campaign against independent outlets and civil-society groups ahead of Cambodia's 2018 election.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Cambodia's tax authority presented the independent, English-language Cambodia Daily with a $6.3 million bill the paper called arbitrary and undocumented, forcing the 24-year-old newspaper to close rather than pay, amid a wider campaign against independent media before 2018 elections.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill" }, { "slug": "2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures", "title": "Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt", "occurred_on": "2016-07-27", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "The failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt against President Erdogan's government and the mass arrests and dismissals that followed against alleged participants and sympathizers.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2016-12-31", "outcome_note": "Most closures were not reversed by the decrees themselves; Human Rights Watch documented that the closures reached opposition and Kurdish-audience outlets beyond any shown Gulen movement link.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After a failed July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey's government closed more than 100 newspapers, television and radio stations, news agencies and publishing houses by state-of-emergency decree, citing alleged links to the movement it blamed for the coup.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures" }, { "slug": "2016-turkiye-zaman-trustees-installed", "title": "Turkiye: court installs trustees at Zaman newspaper", "occurred_on": "2016-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2016-03-04", "outcome_note": "Editorial control was not restored to the original owners; the outlets were later shut down entirely under a separate July 2016 decree.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A court replaced a newspaper's board and editors with trustees days after a hearing without the company's lawyers present; United States funding pressure has not removed an outlet's management by court order.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "An Istanbul court put Turkiye's best-selling newspaper, Zaman, and its parent company under trustees after ruling it supported a group the government called a terrorist organization. Police used tear gas on a crowd that gathered in support.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkiye-zaman-trustees-installed" }, { "slug": "2013-vietnam-decree-72-restricts-blogs", "title": "Vietnam: Decree 72 restricts blogs to personal information", "occurred_on": "2013-09-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "VN", "country_name": "Viet Nam", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "VN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling", "tactics": [ "disinformation_labeling" ], "leader_slug": "nguyen-tan-dung", "leader_name": "Nguyen Tan Dung", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-09-01", "outcome_note": "The decree remained in force and was not reported as reversed in the source reviewed.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": "Vietnam's decree barred bloggers from sharing news articles at all, restricting them to personal content on pain of prosecution; no United States rule confines an outlet or blogger to personal content.", "rsf": null, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Vietnam's Decree 72 took effect in September 2013, barring bloggers and social media users from linking to or reposting news from press organizations or foreign government websites, restricting them to sharing personal information only.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-vietnam-decree-72-restricts-blogs" }, { "slug": "1989-china-tiananmen-foreign-journalists-expelled", "title": "China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests", "occurred_on": "1989-06-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CN", "country_name": "China", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "CN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "expulsion_and_visa_denial" ], "leader_slug": "li-peng", "leader_name": "Li Peng", "issue_of_the_day": "Student-led pro-democracy protests had occupied Tiananmen Square for weeks before the government declared martial law and then used the military to clear the square in early June 1989, and moved to control international coverage of the events that followed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1990-01-01", "outcome_note": "Martial law in Beijing was lifted in January 1990, but broad Chinese government controls on foreign press coverage continued well beyond that date.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 178, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After declaring martial law in Beijing on May 20, 1989, China's government imposed rigid restrictions on coverage of pro-democracy protests and, following the military's June 3-4 clearing of Tiananmen Square, expelled Associated Press correspondent John Pomfret and Voice of America correspondent Alan Pessin.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1989-china-tiananmen-foreign-journalists-expelled" } ], "other_results": [], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=asia&outcome=sustained&view=cards&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?continent=asia&outcome=sustained&view=cards", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?continent=asia&outcome=sustained&view=cards" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }