{ "title": "Search, stage: punish, national level", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?stage=punish&level=national&page=2", "filters": { "stage": "punish", "level": "national", "page": "2" }, "sort": "date", "count": 63, "page": 2, "pages": 2, "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": "AU", "label": "Australia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 33, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "BD", "label": "Bangladesh", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 152, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 152nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "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": "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": "EG", "label": "Egypt", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 169, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "ET", "label": "Ethiopia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 148, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "DE", "label": "Germany", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 14, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 14th 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": "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": "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": "IR", "label": "Iran", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 177, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "KZ", "label": "Kazakhstan", "rsf": null }, { "value": "MX", "label": "Mexico", "rsf": null }, { "value": "MA", "label": "Morocco", "rsf": null }, { "value": "NI", "label": "Nicaragua", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 168, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 168th 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": "PH", "label": "Philippines", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th 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": "SA", "label": "Saudi Arabia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 176, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "RS", "label": "Serbia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 104, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 104th 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": "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": "GB", "label": "United Kingdom", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 18, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 18th 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" } }, { "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" } }, { "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": "asia", "label": "Asia" }, { "value": "europe", "label": "Europe" }, { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America" }, { "value": "south-america", "label": "South America" }, { "value": "oceania", "label": "Oceania" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 19 }, { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 18 }, { "value": "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "label": "Expulsion and visa denial", "count": 12 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 12 }, { "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "label": "Insult and defamation laws", "count": 11 }, { "value": "access_ban", "label": "Access bans", "count": 5 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 4 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 4 }, { "value": "lawsuits_against_press", "label": "Lawsuits against the press", "count": 4 }, { "value": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 2 }, { "value": "disinformation_labeling", "label": "Official labels", "count": 1 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 1 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 63 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 63 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 20 }, { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 14 }, { "value": "ongoing", "label": "Ongoing", "count": 10 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 10 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 9 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "abiy-ahmed", "label": "Abiy Ahmed" }, { "value": "adly-mansour", "label": "Adly Mansour" }, { "value": "aleksandar-vucic", "label": "Aleksandar Vucic" }, { "value": "alexander-lukashenko", "label": "Alexander Lukashenko" }, { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama" }, { "value": "daniel-ortega", "label": "Daniel Ortega" }, { "value": "david-cameron", "label": "David Cameron" }, { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump" }, { "value": "dwight-d-eisenhower", "label": "Dwight D. Eisenhower" }, { "value": "emmerson-mnangagwa", "label": "Emmerson Mnangagwa" }, { "value": "enrique-pena-nieto", "label": "Enrique Pena Nieto" }, { "value": "george-w-bush", "label": "George W. Bush" }, { "value": "joe-biden", "label": "Joe Biden" }, { "value": "john-lee", "label": "John Lee" }, { "value": "kais-saied", "label": "Kais Saied" }, { "value": "kassym-jomart-tokayev", "label": "Kassym-Jomart Tokayev" }, { "value": "konrad-adenauer", "label": "Konrad Adenauer" }, { "value": "li-peng", "label": "Li Peng" }, { "value": "mahmoud-ahmadinejad", "label": "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" }, { "value": "mikhail-gorbachev", "label": "Mikhail Gorbachev" }, { "value": "muhammad-yunus", "label": "Muhammad Yunus" }, { "value": "narendra-modi", "label": "Narendra Modi" }, { "value": "nicolas-maduro", "label": "Nicolas Maduro" }, { "value": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "label": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" }, { "value": "robert-mugabe", "label": "Robert Mugabe" }, { "value": "rodrigo-duterte", "label": "Rodrigo Duterte" }, { "value": "ronald-reagan", "label": "Ronald Reagan" }, { "value": "saadeddine-othmani", "label": "Saadeddine Othmani" }, { "value": "king-salman", "label": "Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud" }, { "value": "scott-morrison", "label": "Scott Morrison" }, { "value": "shehbaz-sharif", "label": "Shehbaz Sharif" }, { "value": "slobodan-milosevic", "label": "Slobodan Milosevic" }, { "value": "theodore-roosevelt", "label": "Theodore Roosevelt" }, { "value": "viktor-orban", "label": "Viktor Orban" }, { "value": "vladimir-putin", "label": "Vladimir Putin" }, { "value": "william-howard-taft", "label": "William Howard Taft" }, { "value": "woodrow-wilson", "label": "Woodrow Wilson" }, { "value": "xi-jinping", "label": "Xi Jinping" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 31 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 17 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "1990s", "label": "1990s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1960s", "label": "1960s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1910s", "label": "1910s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1900s", "label": "1900s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1950s", "label": "1950s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1901", "label": "1901", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1909", "label": "1909", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1917", "label": "1917", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1918", "label": "1918", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1955", "label": "1955", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1962", "label": "1962", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1969", "label": "1969", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1985", "label": "1985", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1986", "label": "1986", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1989", "label": "1989", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1997", "label": "1997", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1998", "label": "1998", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2005", "label": "2005", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2009", "label": "2009", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 6 }, { "value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2017", "label": "2017", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 5 }, { "value": "2020", "label": "2020", "count": 9 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2022", "label": "2022", "count": 6 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 6 }, { "value": "2026", "label": "2026", "count": 2 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 63 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2005-zimbabwe-court-refuses-daily-news-accreditation", "title": "Zimbabwe: the High Court refuses to accredit Daily News journalists under the media registration law", "occurred_on": "2005-05-12", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "ZW", "country_name": "Zimbabwe", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "ZW", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control" ], "leader_slug": "robert-mugabe", "leader_name": "Robert Mugabe", "issue_of_the_day": "The Daily News, Zimbabwe's largest independent newspaper, had been closed since September 2003 after the Supreme Court found it unregistered under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), a 2002 law requiring every media outlet and journalist to register with the government.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2005-05-12", "outcome_note": "The High Court upheld the requirement that the publisher be registered before its journalists could be accredited; the paper was not relicensed until 2010.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": "Journalists at a named newspaper were denied the individual credential needed to work at all, conditioned on a separate corporate registration the government withheld for years.", "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": "2000s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Zimbabwe's High Court ruled that Daily News journalists could not be accredited to work as reporters until their newspaper's publisher had itself been registered with the government's Media and Information Commission.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2005-zimbabwe-court-refuses-daily-news-accreditation" }, { "slug": "1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines", "title": "Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger", "occurred_on": "1998-10-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RS", "country_name": "Serbia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RS", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "insult_and_defamation_laws" ], "leader_slug": "slobodan-milosevic", "leader_name": "Slobodan Milosevic", "issue_of_the_day": "Independent Serbian media's coverage of NATO's escalating confrontation with Yugoslavia over Kosovo through 1998 and 1999.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2000-10-01", "outcome_note": "The law was suspended after Milosevic lost power in October 2000 elections and a change of government in Serbia.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 104, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1990s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily than pro-government ones.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines" }, { "slug": "1997-by-sheremet-imprisoned-for-ort-reporting", "title": "Belarus jails journalist Pavel Sheremet over his reporting for Russian television station ORT", "occurred_on": "1997-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "BY", "country_name": "Belarus", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "BY", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko", "leader_name": "Alexander Lukashenko", "issue_of_the_day": "Sheremet's reporting on Belarus for ORT was often critical of authorities under President Alexander Lukashenko.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Belarusian authorities later stripped Sheremet of his Belarusian citizenship in 2010, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1990s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "In 1997, Belarusian authorities under President Alexander Lukashenko jailed journalist Pavel Sheremet for three months in connection with his reporting for the Russian television station ORT. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the same authorities also banned Sheremet from reporting at one point and forbade him from traveling to the West for a year.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1997-by-sheremet-imprisoned-for-ort-reporting" }, { "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" }, { "slug": "1986-ussr-daniloff-moscow-arrest", "title": "Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986", "occurred_on": "1986-08-30", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence" ], "leader_slug": "mikhail-gorbachev", "leader_name": "Mikhail Gorbachev", "issue_of_the_day": "Daniloff's arrest came days after the United States arrested Gennadi Zakharov, a Soviet employee at the United Nations, on espionage charges in New York, and the two cases became linked in the following weeks of diplomacy.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1986-09-29", "outcome_note": "Daniloff left Moscow for the West on September 29, 1986, though the White House denied that his departure and Zakharov's release amounted to a formal exchange.", "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": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Soviet authorities arrested Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, on August 30, 1986, days after the United States arrested a Soviet United Nations employee on espionage charges. Daniloff was held for two weeks before being moved to United States Embassy custody and left the Soviet Union on September 29, 1986.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1986-ussr-daniloff-moscow-arrest" }, { "slug": "1985-us-morison-espionage-act-conviction", "title": "United States: Espionage Act conviction of Samuel Loring Morison for leaking satellite photographs to Jane's Defence Weekly, 1985 to 1988", "occurred_on": "1985-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "ronald-reagan", "leader_name": "Ronald Reagan", "issue_of_the_day": "The case tested whether the Espionage Act of 1917, written to penalize wartime aid to a foreign enemy, could also be used against someone who gave classified material to a widely read defense publication rather than to an opposing government.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1988-01-01", "outcome_note": "President Bill Clinton pardoned Morison, according to the First Amendment Encyclopedia, though no court reversed the Fourth Circuit's decision upholding his conviction.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Naval intelligence analyst Samuel Loring Morison was convicted under the Espionage Act after he sent classified satellite photographs to a British defense publication in 1984. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld his conviction in 1988, rejecting his argument that giving the images to the press was protected by the First Amendment.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1985-us-morison-espionage-act-conviction" }, { "slug": "1972-us-branzburg-v-hayes-reporters-privilege", "title": "United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenas", "occurred_on": "1969-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "Branzburg's articles on drug use and manufacturing drew the attention of Kentucky prosecutors, who wanted him to identify the people he had described witnessing commit the underlying offenses.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1972-06-29", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court upheld the grand jury's power to compel Branzburg's testimony 5 to 4, finding no First Amendment reporter's privilege.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Paul Branzburg was subpoenaed by a Kentucky grand jury, a body that investigates possible crimes, after he wrote about drug users he had observed. The Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment gives reporters no special right to withhold sources or information from a grand jury.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1972-us-branzburg-v-hayes-reporters-privilege" }, { "slug": "1962-west-germany-spiegel-affair-raid-and-arrests", "title": "West Germany: police raid Der Spiegel's offices and arrest its editors over a defense article", "occurred_on": "1962-10-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "DE", "country_name": "Germany", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "DE", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "konrad-adenauer", "leader_name": "Konrad Adenauer", "issue_of_the_day": "The article's account of the Bundeswehr's readiness followed only two days after a separate Bundestag dispute over Der Spiegel's reporting on military housing contracts had ended.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The dispute over the defense minister's role helped bring on a coalition crisis, and Chancellor Adenauer's resignation took effect on October 15, 1963.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 14, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On October 26, 1962, West German police raided the offices of the news magazine Der Spiegel and arrested its publisher, Rudolf Augstein, after it reported that the armed forces were only \"conditionally prepared\" for a nuclear strike. Deputy editor-in-chief Conrad Ahlers, the article's author, was arrested days later in Spain, and the affair brought on a coalition crisis that contributed to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's resignation the following year.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1962-west-germany-spiegel-affair-raid-and-arrests" }, { "slug": "1955-us-eastland-subcommittee-subpoenas-new-york-times", "title": "United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist ties", "occurred_on": "1955-11-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "dwight-d-eisenhower", "leader_name": "Dwight D. Eisenhower", "issue_of_the_day": "Senator Eastland's subcommittee was investigating what it described as Communist Party influence in American newsrooms and broadcasting during the Cold War, and treated past party membership among journalists as grounds for scrutiny.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1956-12-01", "outcome_note": "The dismissals and resignations at The New York Times and other papers were not reversed; the paper said at year's end it had made no further dismissals beyond the initial cases.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1950s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, led by Senator James Eastland, issued 35 subpoenas over past or present Communist Party ties in the press, and 26 of them went to New York Times staff. The newspaper protested but several employees who would not answer were fired or forced to resign.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1955-us-eastland-subcommittee-subpoenas-new-york-times" }, { "slug": "1918-us-espionage-act-conviction-of-editor-frohwerk", "title": "United States convicts newspaper editor Jacob Frohwerk under the Espionage Act, June 1918", "occurred_on": "1918-06-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The United States had entered the First World War in April 1917 and introduced a national draft, and federal prosecutors brought Espionage Act cases against numerous newspapers and speakers who opposed the war effort.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1919-03-10", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's ruling left Frohwerk's conviction and ten year sentence in place.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1910s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Jacob Frohwerk, an associate editor of the German language newspaper the Missouri Staats-Zeitung, was tried and convicted in June 1918 under the Espionage Act of 1917 for publishing articles opposing American participation in the First World War, and was sentenced to ten years in prison on each of twelve counts, to run concurrently. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the conviction on March 10, 1919.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1918-us-espionage-act-conviction-of-editor-frohwerk" }, { "slug": "1917-us-mother-earth-editor-emma-goldman-convicted-magazine-barred-from-mail", "title": "United States convicts Mother Earth editor Emma Goldman of draft conspiracy and bars her magazine from the mail", "occurred_on": "1917-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "detention_and_violence", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "expulsion_and_visa_denial", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The United States had entered the First World War in April 1917 and introduced a national draft that spring, and federal authorities moved against anarchists, socialists and other war opponents under new wartime laws.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1918-01-14", "outcome_note": "Goldman's conviction stood, and she was deported from the United States in 1919.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1910s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Emma Goldman, editor of the anarchist magazine Mother Earth, was convicted with fellow anarchist Alexander Berkman of conspiring against the newly enacted Selective Draft Law and received the maximum two year sentence and a ten thousand dollar fine. Postal authorities then withdrew Mother Earth's second class mailing privileges, and Goldman was deported from the United States in 1919.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-mother-earth-editor-emma-goldman-convicted-magazine-barred-from-mail" }, { "slug": "1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions", "title": "United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reporting", "occurred_on": "1909-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws", "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "theodore-roosevelt", "leader_name": "Theodore Roosevelt", "issue_of_the_day": "The New York World and the Indianapolis News had published reports on who had profited from the United States' purchase of the Panama Canal, reports that Roosevelt disputed as libelous.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1911-01-03", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court's 1911 ruling that no federal criminal libel law existed for offenses on federal enclaves left the World and the News without convictions and was later described as an early safeguard for the freedom of the press.", "stage": "punish", "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": "1900s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Theodore Roosevelt sought federal criminal libel indictments against the publishers of the New York World and the Indianapolis News after they reported that he and other officials had profited from the United States' purchase of the Panama Canal. Federal courts in New York and Indiana dismissed the indictments, and the Supreme Court upheld that result in 1911.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1909-us-panama-canal-libel-prosecutions" }, { "slug": "1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento", "title": "Philippines: United States colonial government's libel law is used to close the newspaper El Renacimiento", "occurred_on": "1901-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "PH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "tactics": [ "insult_and_defamation_laws", "lawsuits_against_press" ], "leader_slug": "william-howard-taft", "leader_name": "William Howard Taft", "issue_of_the_day": "El Renacimiento was a newspaper that supported Philippine independence during United States colonial rule, and its 1908 editorial criticizing unnamed colonial officials as birds of prey drew a libel suit from Secretary of the Interior Dean C. Worcester.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1914-01-01", "outcome_note": "Kalaw and Ocampo's convictions were affirmed on appeal, and Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison pardoned Ocampo in 1914, after the fine had already forced the paper to close.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 114, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1900s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The United States colonial government in the Philippines enacted a criminal libel law in 1901 that Governor-General William Howard Taft defended by saying Filipinos were unused to the freedom of the press. The law was used in 1908 to convict the editors and publisher of the pro-independence newspaper El Renacimiento over an editorial criticizing colonial officials, and the resulting fine forced the paper to close.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1901-philippines-us-colonial-libel-act-el-renacimiento" } ], "other_results": [], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?stage=punish&level=national&page=2&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?stage=punish&level=national&page=2", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?stage=punish&level=national&page=2" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }