{
  "title": "Search: shutdowns and blocking, from 2020, national level",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?tactic=shutdowns_and_blocking&from=2020&level=national",
  "filters": {
    "tactic": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
    "from": "2020",
    "level": "national"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 7,
  "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": "BY",
        "label": "Belarus",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 165,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th 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": "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": "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": "TZ",
        "label": "Tanzania",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 117,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "VE",
        "label": "Venezuela",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 159,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      },
      {
        "value": "asia",
        "label": "Asia"
      },
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      },
      {
        "value": "south-america",
        "label": "South America"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
        "label": "Shutdowns and blocking",
        "count": 7
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "access_ban",
        "label": "Access bans",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "expulsion_and_visa_denial",
        "label": "Expulsion and visa denial",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 7
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknown",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "alexander-lukashenko",
        "label": "Alexander Lukashenko"
      },
      {
        "value": "min-aung-hlaing",
        "label": "Min Aung Hlaing"
      },
      {
        "value": "narendra-modi",
        "label": "Narendra Modi"
      },
      {
        "value": "nicolas-maduro",
        "label": "Nicolas Maduro"
      },
      {
        "value": "samia-suluhu-hassan",
        "label": "Samia Suluhu Hassan"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 7
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2024",
        "label": "2024",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 7
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-tanzania-internet-shutdown-election-day",
      "title": "Tanzania shuts down internet access on election day amid unrest",
      "occurred_on": "2025-10-29",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "TZ",
      "country_name": "Tanzania",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "TZ",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "samia-suluhu-hassan",
      "leader_name": "Samia Suluhu Hassan",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The shutdown coincided with a disputed general election and protests against President Samia Suluhu Hassan's government, which Human Rights Watch later said was followed by killings and broader restrictions once the results were announced.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Authorities did not explain the shutdown, and disruptions to social platforms continued for several days after the vote.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 117,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Tanzania's government restricted internet and social-media access on October 29, 2025, as citizens voted in a general election marked by protests, cutting national internet traffic by nearly 90 percent and leaving both local and foreign journalists unable to report on the vote and its aftermath in real time.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tanzania-internet-shutdown-election-day"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown",
      "title": "Venezuela detains, expels and restricts journalists after disputed 2024 election",
      "occurred_on": "2024-07-28",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "VE",
      "country_name": "Venezuela",
      "continent": "south-america",
      "jurisdiction": "VE",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "expulsion_and_visa_denial",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "nicolas-maduro",
      "leader_name": "Nicolas Maduro",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Venezuela's July 28, 2024 election, in which the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner without releasing detailed vote tallies opposition figures disputed, triggered protests and a surge of restrictions on the journalists covering them.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Detained journalists faced continuing prosecution, and social-platform restrictions remained in place after the documented period.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 159,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "In the two weeks after Venezuela's disputed July 28, 2024 presidential election, Reporters Without Borders documented 70 press-freedom violations, including nine detentions, nine expulsions of foreign correspondents and the suspension of the social media platform X, as President Nicolas Maduro's government moved to control coverage of the disputed result.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-venezuela-post-election-press-crackdown"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2023-india-blocks-gaon-savera-accounts",
      "title": "India: Gaon Savera's Facebook and X accounts blocked",
      "occurred_on": "2023-08-21",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "IN",
      "country_name": "India",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "IN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "narendra-modi",
      "leader_name": "Narendra Modi",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "CPJ called on India to restore access; the source reviewed does not report whether the accounts were later unblocked.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "India blocked an independent outlet's Facebook and X accounts nationwide ahead of an event it planned to cover, without a stated reason; the White House ban limited three outlets' building access, not their reach online.",
      "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": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "India blocked independent news outlet Gaon Savera's Facebook page and X account nationwide just before a workers' convention it planned to cover, without a public explanation from the government.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-blocks-gaon-savera-accounts"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-blocks-bbc-dw-meduza",
      "title": "Russia: regulator blocks BBC Russian, Deutsche Welle and other outlets",
      "occurred_on": "2022-03-04",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2022-03-04",
      "outcome_note": "The blocks were not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "Russia's regulator blocked five foreign outlets and two social media platforms nationwide within days of invading Ukraine, alongside fifteen-year prison terms for coverage it called false; the White House ban excluded three outlets from one building, not from the country.",
      "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": "Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked access nationwide to the websites of BBC Russian, Deutsche Welle, Meduza, Voice of America's Russian service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty within days of invading Ukraine, alongside new prison terms for reporting the regulator called false.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-blocks-bbc-dw-meduza"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports",
      "title": "Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison",
      "occurred_on": "2022-03-04",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The law followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and was aimed at reporting on the war that differed from the Russian defense ministry's official statements about casualties and military conduct.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "The law remained in force; independent outlets that avoided closure continued operating from outside Russia.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "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": "Russia's parliament passed a law criminalizing the publication of information about the military that contradicts official statements, with penalties up to 15 years in prison, prompting Novaya Gazeta to pull its Ukraine war coverage and the BBC, CNN and other outlets to suspend operations inside Russia.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff",
      "title": "Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist'",
      "occurred_on": "2021-05-18",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "BY",
      "country_name": "Belarus",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "BY",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
      "leader_name": "Alexander Lukashenko",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Tut.by had continued reporting on the government's response to protests following the disputed August 2020 presidential election that kept Alexander Lukashenko in power; authorities revoked the outlet's official media registration in January 2021.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Tut.by remained blocked and its former staff continued reporting from exile as Zerkalo; the criminal proceedings against staff continued.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 165,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Belarusian authorities blocked access to Tut.by, the country's most-read independent news site, searched its offices in three cities and arrested at least eleven staff, including its editor-in-chief, citing alleged media-law violations after the site had already lost its official media status.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown",
      "title": "Myanmar: military cuts mobile internet after seizing power",
      "occurred_on": "2021-02-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "MM",
      "country_name": "Myanmar",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "MM",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "min-aung-hlaing",
      "leader_name": "Min Aung Hlaing",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2021-05-03",
      "outcome_note": "As of the May 2021 source, mobile data remained cut in parts of the country, including large areas of Rakhine State.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "Myanmar's military cut mobile data nationwide after seizing power, leaving reporters in entire townships unable to file; United States funding and access actions have not shut off a region's communications.",
      "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": "After seizing power on February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military cut mobile data service nationwide, leaving reporters in rural townships and Rakhine State unable to send news and blocking large areas from outside communication for months.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-military-internet-shutdown"
    }
  ],
  "other_results": [],
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    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?tactic=shutdowns_and_blocking&from=2020&level=national"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}