{
  "title": "Search: licensing and closure of outlets in Europe, from 2020",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=europe&tactic=outlet_licensing&from=2020",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe",
    "tactic": "outlet_licensing",
    "from": "2020"
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  "sort": "date",
  "count": 3,
  "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": "HU",
        "label": "Hungary",
        "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"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "RU",
        "label": "Russia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 172,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "SK",
        "label": "Slovakia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 37,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
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        "label": "Europe"
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    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "label": "Funding and ownership pressure",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "upheld",
        "label": "Upheld by a court",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "robert-fico",
        "label": "Robert Fico"
      },
      {
        "value": "viktor-orban",
        "label": "Viktor Orban"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2024",
        "label": "2024",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 3
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr",
      "title": "Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR",
      "occurred_on": "2024-06-20",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "SK",
      "country_name": "Slovakia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "SK",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "robert-fico",
      "leader_name": "Robert Fico",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Fico's government accused RTVS of one-sided, activist coverage against it, a complaint it made after RTVS reporting the government considered unfavorable during Fico's return to power in late 2023.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2024-07-01",
      "outcome_note": "STVR replaced RTVS as planned; the ousted director-general kept only his separate parliamentary mandate.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 37,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture ministry more direct control, prompting protests and criticism from the European Union.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
      "title": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license",
      "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The suspension came about six months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which several independent Russian outlets closed or moved abroad rather than operate under new wartime speech laws.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
      "outcome_note": "The Basmanny District Court's suspension of the print license stood as of the ruling, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national court ended a Nobel-recognized newspaper's print license outright over a sixteen-year-old paperwork dispute, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 172,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Moscow court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after the media regulator Roskomnadzor said the paper had not provided documents about a 2006 change of ownership.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license",
      "title": "Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application",
      "occurred_on": "2021-02-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The decision affected one of the last Hungarian broadcasters to carry news and talk programming independent of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.",
      "outcome": "upheld",
      "outcome_on": "2021-09-01",
      "outcome_note": "Hungary's Curia upheld the Media Council's denial of Klubradio's license renewal in September 2021.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national broadcast regulator ended one of the country's last independent stations' terrestrial license over its paperwork, and the country's top court upheld the decision.",
      "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"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Hungary's Media Council ended Klubradio's decades-old terrestrial broadcast license, citing errors in its renewal application, after the station had built a following as one of the country's few remaining independent voices.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license"
    }
  ],
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    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}