{
  "title": "Search: insult and defamation laws, national level, outcome sustained",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?tactic=insult_and_defamation_laws&level=national&outcome=sustained",
  "filters": {
    "tactic": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
    "level": "national",
    "outcome": "sustained"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 4,
  "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": "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": "TN",
        "label": "Tunisia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 137,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "ZW",
        "label": "Zimbabwe",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 124,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "africa",
        "label": "Africa"
      },
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
        "label": "Secrets and espionage laws",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
        "label": "Shutdowns and blocking",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "eliminate",
        "label": "Eliminate",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
        "label": "Emmerson Mnangagwa"
      },
      {
        "value": "kais-saied",
        "label": "Kais Saied"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 4
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54",
      "title": "Tunisia's cybercrime decree pushes jailed-journalist count to highest since 1992",
      "occurred_on": "2025-01-16",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "TN",
      "country_name": "Tunisia",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "TN",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "kais-saied",
      "leader_name": "Kais Saied",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Decree-Law 54, issued by President Kais Saied in 2022 without a sitting parliament, criminalized spreading what authorities deem \"false news\" online, and by January 2025 had become the basis for jailing a record number of Tunisian journalists.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Decree-Law 54 remained in force and continued to produce new prosecutions, which CPJ said brought jailed-journalist numbers to a record.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 137,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "The Committee to Protect Journalists found at least four journalists imprisoned under Tunisia's 2022 Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime as of January 2025, including radio hosts Mourad Zghidi and Borhen Bsaies, pushing the country's jailed-journalist count to its highest since 1992 under President Kais Saied.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-tunisia-record-journalists-jailed-decree-54"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact",
      "title": "Zimbabwe's Patriotic Act criminalizes journalists' contact with foreign governments",
      "occurred_on": "2023-07-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "ZW",
      "country_name": "Zimbabwe",
      "continent": "africa",
      "jurisdiction": "ZW",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "secrets_and_espionage_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "emmerson-mnangagwa",
      "leader_name": "Emmerson Mnangagwa",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The bill passed weeks before Zimbabwe's August 2023 general election, at a time when the government accused foreign-linked civil-society and media figures of working to undermine it ahead of the vote.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2023-07-14",
      "outcome_note": "President Mnangagwa signed the bill into law despite CPJ's call for a veto; a court challenge by journalists did not block it.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 124,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Patriotic Act, which criminalizes meeting foreign governments or officials with intent to harm Zimbabwe's sovereignty, with penalties up to death for advocating armed intervention and up to ten years for supporting sanctions, weeks before the country's 2023 general election.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence",
      "title": "Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike",
      "occurred_on": "2023-02-15",
      "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"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Ponomarenko's post concerned an airstrike that hit a theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, in March 2022, a strike Russian authorities have denied responsibility for.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2023-02-15",
      "outcome_note": "Ponomarenko's six-year sentence and five-year journalism ban stood as of the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "eliminate",
      "ladder_note": "A journalist received a six-year sentence and a five-year professional ban under a wartime false-information law for one social media post, not a fine or license action.",
      "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 Russian court sentenced journalist Maria Ponomarenko to six years in prison and a five-year ban on journalism under a law criminalizing \"false information\" about the military, after she published a Telegram post about an airstrike on a Mariupol theater that Russia denies carrying out.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence"
    },
    {
      "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"
    }
  ],
  "other_results": [],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}