{
  "title": "Search: prior restraint, from 2020",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?tactic=prior_restraint&from=2020&view=cards",
  "filters": {
    "tactic": "prior_restraint",
    "from": "2020",
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  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 5,
  "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": "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": "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": "US",
        "label": "United States",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 64,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "asia",
        "label": "Asia"
      },
      {
        "value": "north-america",
        "label": "North America"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "access_ban",
        "label": "Access bans",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "credential_control",
        "label": "Credential control",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "disinformation_labeling",
        "label": "Official labels",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
        "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
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      {
        "value": "restrict",
        "label": "Restrict",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 3
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknown",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "donald-trump",
        "label": "Donald Trump"
      },
      {
        "value": "narendra-modi",
        "label": "Narendra Modi"
      },
      {
        "value": "recep-tayyip-erdogan",
        "label": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2020",
        "label": "2020",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2024",
        "label": "2024",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 5
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules",
      "title": "United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025",
      "occurred_on": "2025-09-19",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "credential_control",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "credential_control",
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2026-04-09",
      "outcome_note": "Judge Paul Friedman ruled against the credential-revocation provisions on 2026-03-20 and against the revised policy on 2026-04-09; the Department of Defense appealed.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "On September 19, 2025, the United States Department of Defense, the federal department that provides the country's military forces, issued new credential rules for reporters at the Pentagon, its headquarters building, under the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. The rules require that information be approved for public release by an authorizing official \"before it is released, even if it is unclassified,\" and require accredited reporters to pledge not to solicit or publish such information without approval or lose their badges. The Pentagon called the rules \"an important step in preventing leaks that damage operational security and national security.\" A federal judge ruled against the rules in March and April 2026, and the department has appealed (as of 2026-09-22).",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-pentagon-issues-new-press-credentialing-rules"
    },
    {
      "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": "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-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices",
      "title": "Indian tax authorities search BBC offices weeks after Modi documentary ban",
      "occurred_on": "2023-02-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "IN",
      "country_name": "India",
      "continent": "asia",
      "jurisdiction": "IN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
      "tactics": [
        "prior_restraint",
        "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "narendra-modi",
      "leader_name": "Narendra Modi",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The searches followed the government's ban, weeks earlier, of the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question,' which examined Modi's record as Gujarat's chief minister during 2002 riots that killed mostly Muslims.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "No penalty or further tax action against the BBC was reported; the broadcaster's India operations continued.",
      "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": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-india-tax-authorities-raid-bbc-offices"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication",
      "title": "Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release",
      "occurred_on": "2020-09-12",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint",
      "tactics": [
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The reporting concerned the CDC's coronavirus testing guidance and its weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report during the summer and fall of 2020, as the Trump administration sought to align public messaging with the president's own statements about the pandemic.",
      "outcome": "unknown",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "No agency reversal of the practice was documented in the sources reviewed; a congressional investigation examined the interference without a public admission of wrongdoing.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Reporting in 2020 found that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services rewrote or edited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's public coronavirus guidance and its weekly scientific bulletin before release, bypassing the agency's normal scientific review.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hhs-officials-alter-cdc-covid-guidance-before-publication"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}