{ "title": "Search, stage: silence, national level", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?stage=silence&level=national", "filters": { "stage": "silence", "level": "national" }, "sort": "date", "count": 45, "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": "AR", "label": "Argentina", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 98, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "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": "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": "BR", "label": "Brazil", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 52, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "KH", "label": "Cambodia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "CL", "label": "Chile", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 70, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "CZ", "label": "Czechia", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 11, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country-czechia" } }, { "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": "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": "IL", "label": "Israel", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th 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": "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": "PL", "label": "Poland", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "PT", "label": "Portugal", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 10, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 10th 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": "ZA", "label": "South Africa", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 21, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "KR", "label": "South Korea", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 47, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } }, { "value": "ES", "label": "Spain", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 29, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 29th 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": "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": "outlet_licensing", "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets", "count": 19 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 15 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 14 }, { "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "label": "Funding and ownership pressure", "count": 9 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 8 }, { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 3 }, { "value": "access_ban", "label": "Access bans", "count": 2 }, { "value": "credential_control", "label": "Credential control", "count": 2 }, { "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws", "label": "Insult and defamation laws", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "silence", "label": "Silence", "count": 45 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 45 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 16 }, { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 16 }, { "value": "ongoing", "label": "Ongoing", "count": 7 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 3 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 3 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "adolf-hitler", "label": "Adolf Hitler" }, { "value": "alexander-dubcek", "label": "Alexander Dubček" }, { "value": "alexander-lukashenko", "label": "Alexander Lukashenko" }, { "value": "antonio-salazar", "label": "António de Oliveira Salazar" }, { "value": "augusto-pinochet", "label": "Augusto Pinochet" }, { "value": "benjamin-netanyahu", "label": "Benjamin Netanyahu" }, { "value": "carrie-lam", "label": "Carrie Lam" }, { "value": "chun-doo-hwan", "label": "Chun Doo-hwan" }, { "value": "daniel-francois-malan", "label": "Daniel François Malan" }, { "value": "david-ben-gurion", "label": "David Ben-Gurion" }, { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump" }, { "value": "ferdinand-marcos", "label": "Ferdinand Marcos" }, { "value": "francisco-franco", "label": "Francisco Franco" }, { "value": "gamal-abdel-nasser", "label": "Gamal Abdel Nasser" }, { "value": "getulio-vargas", "label": "Getúlio Vargas" }, { "value": "hassan-rouhani", "label": "Hassan Rouhani" }, { "value": "hugo-chavez", "label": "Hugo Chavez" }, { "value": "hun-sen", "label": "Hun Sen" }, { "value": "indira-gandhi", "label": "Indira Gandhi" }, { "value": "javier-milei", "label": "Javier Milei" }, { "value": "john-curtin", "label": "John Curtin" }, { "value": "margaret-thatcher", "label": "Margaret Thatcher" }, { "value": "mateusz-morawiecki", "label": "Mateusz Morawiecki" }, { "value": "min-aung-hlaing", "label": "Min Aung Hlaing" }, { "value": "narendra-modi", "label": "Narendra Modi" }, { "value": "p-w-botha", "label": "P. W. Botha" }, { "value": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "label": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" }, { "value": "robert-mugabe", "label": "Robert Mugabe" }, { "value": "samia-suluhu-hassan", "label": "Samia Suluhu Hassan" }, { "value": "saw-maung", "label": "Saw Maung" }, { "value": "viktor-orban", "label": "Viktor Orban" }, { "value": "vladimir-lenin", "label": "Vladimir Lenin" }, { "value": "vladimir-putin", "label": "Vladimir Putin" }, { "value": "wojciech-jaruzelski", "label": "Wojciech Jaruzelski" }, { "value": "woodrow-wilson", "label": "Woodrow Wilson" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2020s", "label": "2020s", "count": 13 }, { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 8 }, { "value": "1980s", "label": "1980s", "count": 5 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 4 }, { "value": "1930s", "label": "1930s", "count": 4 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 3 }, { "value": "1960s", "label": "1960s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1940s", "label": "1940s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1910s", "label": "1910s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1950s", "label": "1950s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1920s", "label": "1920s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1917", "label": "1917", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1922", "label": "1922", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1933", "label": "1933", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1938", "label": "1938", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1939", "label": "1939", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1944", "label": "1944", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1948", "label": "1948", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1950", "label": "1950", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1960", "label": "1960", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1968", "label": "1968", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1971", "label": "1971", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1972", "label": "1972", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1973", "label": "1973", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1975", "label": "1975", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1980", "label": "1980", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1981", "label": "1981", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1985", "label": "1985", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1988", "label": "1988", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2001", "label": "2001", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2003", "label": "2003", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2007", "label": "2007", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2016", "label": "2016", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2017", "label": "2017", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2018", "label": "2018", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2021", "label": "2021", "count": 6 }, { "value": "2022", "label": "2022", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2023", "label": "2023", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2024", "label": "2024", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2025", "label": "2025", "count": 2 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 45 } ] }, "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": "2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america", "title": "United States: U.S. Agency for Global Media action to shut down Voice of America operations, March 2025", "occurred_on": "2025-03-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2025-03-28", "outcome_note": "A temporary restraining order of 2025-03-28 barred USAGM from reducing its workforce; litigation continued into 2026.", "stage": "silence", "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": "Beginning on March 15, 2025, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the United States federal agency that oversees the government's international broadcasters, placed most of its staff on paid administrative leave and moved to shut down the operations of Voice of America (VOA), the United States government's international broadcaster. Kari Lake, a senior advisor at USAGM, carried out the action under an executive order of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to reduce the federal bureaucracy. VOA journalists sued on March 21, 2025, and on March 28, 2025, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, a short-term order made before a full hearing, that barred the agency from reducing its workforce.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-usagm-moves-to-shut-down-voice-of-america" }, { "slug": "2024-argentina-milei-closes-telam", "title": "Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam", "occurred_on": "2024-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "AR", "country_name": "Argentina", "continent": "south-america", "jurisdiction": "AR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "javier-milei", "leader_name": "Javier Milei", "issue_of_the_day": "Milei had campaigned against what he called wasteful and politically one-sided state spending, and Telam, founded in 1945, had long been associated with the governments of the Kirchner political movement he defeated in the 2023 election.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "Telam's original newsroom remained closed; the agency was later reorganized as a smaller state communications operation.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 98, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Javier Milei's government fenced off and shut down Telam, Argentina's state-owned news agency, calling it a public-relations operation for the prior Kirchnerist governments; unions and journalist groups called the closure one of the most serious blows to press freedom in decades of Argentine democracy.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-argentina-milei-closes-telam" }, { "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": "2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy", "title": "Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article", "occurred_on": "2023-02-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KH", "country_name": "Cambodia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "hun-sen", "leader_name": "Hun Sen", "issue_of_the_day": "The article, published February 8, 2023, reported that Hun Sen's son and eventual successor, Hun Manet, had overstepped his authority by signing a $100,000 earthquake aid agreement for Turkiye.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2023-02-13", "outcome_note": "The Ministry of Information revoked the license as Hun Sen ordered, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "The head of government personally ordered a national outlet's operating license revoked over one article, rejecting a published apology, rather than pursuing a defamation suit.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Prime Minister Hun Sen personally ordered the license of independent outlet Voice of Democracy revoked over an article about an earthquake-aid agreement signed by his son, rejecting the outlet's published apology.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-cambodia-shutters-voice-of-democracy" }, { "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": "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": "2021-hong-kong-apple-daily-forced-closure", "title": "China (Hong Kong): Apple Daily closes after its assets are frozen under the national security law", "occurred_on": "2021-06-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HK", "country_name": "Hong Kong", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "HK", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "carrie-lam", "leader_name": "Carrie Lam", "issue_of_the_day": "The closure followed Hong Kong's 2019 to 2020 pro-democracy protests and Beijing's imposition of a national security law on the territory in June 2020, which criminalized broadly defined acts of subversion and collusion with foreign forces.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-06-24", "outcome_note": "Apple Daily did not resume publication and its former executives faced additional charges as of the December 2021 report reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A newspaper's assets were frozen and its senior editors charged with offenses carrying up to life imprisonment, ending publication entirely rather than a licensing dispute or fine.", "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" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Apple Daily, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy newspaper, printed its final edition after the government froze its parent company's assets and arrested its editors under the national security law imposed on the territory in 2020.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hong-kong-apple-daily-forced-closure" }, { "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-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press", "title": "Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group", "occurred_on": "2021-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "mateusz-morawiecki", "leader_name": "Mateusz Morawiecki", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2021-04-01", "outcome_note": "The acquisition closed and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A state-controlled company bought a group of 20 regional papers reaching 17 million readers; United States funding pressure has cut money and reviewed licenses but has not transferred an outlet's ownership to the state.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2020s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press" }, { "slug": "2021-myanmar-junta-revokes-media-licenses", "title": "Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup", "occurred_on": "2021-03-08", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MM", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "min-aung-hlaing", "leader_name": "Min Aung Hlaing", "issue_of_the_day": "The outlets had been covering nationwide protests against the military's February 1, 2021 seizure of power from Myanmar's elected government, coverage the junta sought to stop by removing the outlets' legal authorization to operate.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The five outlets' licenses were not restored; CPJ counted at least 32 journalists still imprisoned as of July 2021.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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": "Weeks after seizing power, Myanmar's military junta revoked the operating licenses of five independent media outlets covering protests against the coup and raided two of their newsrooms, seizing computers and files; journalists from the outlets were later arrested and charged under a broadened penal-code provision on spreading 'false news.'", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-myanmar-junta-revokes-media-licenses" }, { "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" }, { "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" }, { "slug": "2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown", "title": "Iran: near-total internet shutdown during fuel-price protests", "occurred_on": "2019-11-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IR", "country_name": "Iran", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "hassan-rouhani", "leader_name": "Hassan Rouhani", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2019-11-23", "outcome_note": "Internet connectivity was restored after roughly a week, according to the source reviewed, though the underlying criminal cases against arrested journalists continued.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal nationwide for nearly a week and arrested a journalist for reporting on the shutdown itself; no United States action in the record has cut off nationwide communications.", "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" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Iran cut internet connectivity to about five percent of normal levels nationwide for nearly a week during protests over fuel prices, while arresting at least eleven journalists, including one detained for reporting on the shutdown itself.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-iran-nationwide-internet-shutdown" }, { "slug": "2019-india-kashmir-communications-blackout", "title": "India imposes a communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after revoking the region's special status", "occurred_on": "2019-08-05", "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": "The Indian government's August 2019 revocation of Article 370, which had granted Jammu and Kashmir a degree of constitutional autonomy since 1949.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "2020-08-05", "outcome_note": "High-speed mobile internet remained restricted into 2020; the International Federation of Journalists reported the blackout as still affecting journalists' work a full year after it began.", "stage": "silence", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "As it revoked Jammu and Kashmir's constitutional autonomy, India's government cut broadband, mobile internet, text messaging and phone service across the region, leaving local journalists unable to file stories, verify information or communicate with sources for months.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-india-kashmir-communications-blackout" }, { "slug": "2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger", "title": "Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation", "occurred_on": "2018-11-29", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "HU", "country_name": "Hungary", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "HU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "viktor-orban", "leader_name": "Viktor Orban", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2018-11-29", "outcome_note": "The merger was completed and the exemption was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "Owners surrendered 476 outlets into one government-aligned foundation, exempted by decree from antitrust review; United States funding pressure has cut money and licenses but has not required owners to give up outlets.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA. The government exempted the merger from the antitrust review that would normally apply to a combination of that size.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger" }, { "slug": "2018-turkiye-dogan-sells-to-demiroren", "title": "Turkiye: Dogan Holding sells its media outlets to Demiroren", "occurred_on": "2018-03-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2018-03-21", "outcome_note": "The sale closed and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "Turkiye's largest remaining independent newspaper and broadcast group was sold to a buyer with ties to the president, following two prior purchases that turned pro-government; United States pressure on owners has not produced a forced sale of this kind.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Turkiye's largest independent media group, including the newspaper Hurriyet and the broadcaster CNN Turk, was sold to the Demiroren conglomerate, a buyer with ties to the governing party, for a reported 1.1 billion dollars.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-turkiye-dogan-sells-to-demiroren" }, { "slug": "2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill", "title": "Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill", "occurred_on": "2017-09-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KH", "country_name": "Cambodia", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "hun-sen", "leader_name": "Hun Sen", "issue_of_the_day": "Preparations for Cambodia's 2018 general election and a wider government campaign against independent media and civil-society groups seen as sympathetic to the opposition.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2017-09-04", "outcome_note": "The Cambodia Daily did not reopen; its closure coincided with a wider campaign against independent outlets and civil-society groups ahead of Cambodia's 2018 election.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 151, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Cambodia's tax authority presented the independent, English-language Cambodia Daily with a $6.3 million bill the paper called arbitrary and undocumented, forcing the 24-year-old newspaper to close rather than pay, amid a wider campaign against independent media before 2018 elections.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-cambodia-daily-closed-tax-bill" }, { "slug": "2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures", "title": "Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt", "occurred_on": "2016-07-27", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "The failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt against President Erdogan's government and the mass arrests and dismissals that followed against alleged participants and sympathizers.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2016-12-31", "outcome_note": "Most closures were not reversed by the decrees themselves; Human Rights Watch documented that the closures reached opposition and Kurdish-audience outlets beyond any shown Gulen movement link.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After a failed July 2016 coup attempt, Turkey's government closed more than 100 newspapers, television and radio stations, news agencies and publishing houses by state-of-emergency decree, citing alleged links to the movement it blamed for the coup.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkey-post-coup-media-closures" }, { "slug": "2016-turkiye-zaman-trustees-installed", "title": "Turkiye: court installs trustees at Zaman newspaper", "occurred_on": "2016-03-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "TR", "country_name": "Türkiye", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "TR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure" ], "leader_slug": "recep-tayyip-erdogan", "leader_name": "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan", "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2016-03-04", "outcome_note": "Editorial control was not restored to the original owners; the outlets were later shut down entirely under a separate July 2016 decree.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A court replaced a newspaper's board and editors with trustees days after a hearing without the company's lawyers present; United States funding pressure has not removed an outlet's management by court order.", "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": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "An Istanbul court put Turkiye's best-selling newspaper, Zaman, and its parent company under trustees after ruling it supported a group the government called a terrorist organization. Police used tear gas on a crowd that gathered in support.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2016-turkiye-zaman-trustees-installed" }, { "slug": "2010-israel-prisoner-x-gag-order", "title": "Israel: a court bars any mention of the 'Prisoner X' case", "occurred_on": "2010-06-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "IL", "country_name": "Israel", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "benjamin-netanyahu", "leader_name": "Benjamin Netanyahu", "issue_of_the_day": "The order concerned the custody of a man later identified as Ben Zygier, an Australian-Israeli detained on suspicion of harming state security, whose case Israeli outlets could not report on for years under the order.", "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": "2010-06-01", "outcome_note": "The source reviewed, a 2013 annual survey, documents the order's existence and Israel's wider military review system without stating when the domestic order was resolved.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "A court order barred any domestic mention of a named prisoner's case or of the order itself, backed by a standing system requiring advance approval of security reporting.", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "An Israeli judge ordered Israeli media barred from any mention of a prisoner held under a false identity, or of the order itself, applying a system under which security-related stories must be reviewed and cleared by the military before publication.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-israel-prisoner-x-gag-order" }, { "slug": "2007-venezuela-rctv-license-not-renewed", "title": "Venezuela: the government declines to renew RCTV's broadcast concession", "occurred_on": "2007-05-27", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "VE", "country_name": "Venezuela", "continent": "south-america", "jurisdiction": "VE", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "hugo-chavez", "leader_name": "Hugo Chavez", "issue_of_the_day": "President Hugo Chavez's government accused RCTV of supporting the failed April 2002 coup attempt against him, an accusation the government cited alongside the concession's scheduled expiration.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2015-09-08", "outcome_note": "A regional human rights court found in 2015 that the 2007 non-renewal violated free expression, but the source reviewed does not report RCTV's return to open-signal broadcasting.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "The country's most-watched television channel lost its national broadcast concession entirely, later found by an international court to have been aimed at ending its critical coverage.", "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": "2000s", "granularity": "granular", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Venezuela's government let Radio Caracas Television's twenty-year broadcast concession expire rather than renew it, replacing the country's most-watched channel with a new state broadcaster; a regional human rights court later found the decision violated free expression.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2007-venezuela-rctv-license-not-renewed" }, { "slug": "2003-zimbabwe-daily-news-shut-down", "title": "Zimbabwe: police close the Daily News under the media registration law", "occurred_on": "2003-09-12", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "ZW", "country_name": "Zimbabwe", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "ZW", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "robert-mugabe", "leader_name": "Robert Mugabe", "issue_of_the_day": "The closure came amid a wider campaign by President Robert Mugabe's government against independent media following the contested 2002 presidential election.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2010-05-27", "outcome_note": "Zimbabwe's Media Commission granted the Daily News a new publishing license on May 27, 2010, nearly seven years after the closure.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": "The country's largest independent newspaper was shut by police and kept off newsstands for nearly seven years, not a temporary suspension or fine.", "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 Supreme Court ruled the Daily News, the country's largest independent newspaper, was operating unregistered under a 2002 media law, and police shut its offices the next day; the paper stayed closed for nearly seven years.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-zimbabwe-daily-news-shut-down" }, { "slug": "2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv", "title": "State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network", "occurred_on": "2001-04-14", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin", "issue_of_the_day": "NTV's critical coverage of Russia's second war in Chechnya and of the government of President Vladimir Putin, who had taken office in May 2000.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2001-04-14", "outcome_note": "The takeover was not reversed; most of NTV's original staff resigned in the following weeks rather than work under the new management.", "stage": "silence", "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": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own appointees.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv" }, { "slug": "1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein", "title": "United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices", "occurred_on": "1988-10-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "GB", "country_name": "United Kingdom", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "GB", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "margaret-thatcher", "leader_name": "Margaret Thatcher", "issue_of_the_day": "Violence linked to the conflict in Northern Ireland, often called the Troubles, continued through the 1980s, and the British government wanted to deny paramilitary-linked political figures what it considered a broadcasting platform.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1994-09-16", "outcome_note": "The broadcasting ban was lifted on September 16, 1994, shortly after the Irish Republican Army's August 1994 ceasefire declaration.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Home Secretary Douglas Hurd directed British broadcasters in October 1988 not to air the voices of representatives of Sinn Féin, a party linked to the Irish Republican Army, and other groups linked to violence in Northern Ireland. Broadcasters got around it by having actors read transcripts of the same interviews.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-uk-broadcasting-ban-sinn-fein" }, { "slug": "1988-burma-slorc-press-scrutiny", "title": "Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power", "occurred_on": "1988-09-18", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "MM", "country_name": "Myanmar", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "MM", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "saw-maung", "leader_name": "Saw Maung", "issue_of_the_day": "SLORC had just taken power after crushing the August 1988 pro-democracy uprising, sometimes called 8888 for its start date, and used the Press Scrutiny Board to prevent coverage sympathetic to the uprising or critical of military rule.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "The Press Scrutiny Board's pre-publication press controls remained fully in force at the end of 1989 and continued operating for decades afterward.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After crushing the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, Burma's new military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, tightened an existing pre-publication press controls board and raised penalties for unauthorized publishing to seven years in prison, while denying any press controls existed.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1988-burma-slorc-press-scrutiny" }, { "slug": "1985-south-africa-state-of-emergency-media-ban", "title": "South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency", "occurred_on": "1985-11-02", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "ZA", "country_name": "South Africa", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "ZA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "access_ban", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "p-w-botha", "leader_name": "P. W. Botha", "issue_of_the_day": "Unrest against apartheid had spread through South Africa's Black townships through 1985, and the government's emergency regulations applied to the television and photographic coverage that had brought international attention to the violence.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1990-06-01", "outcome_note": "South Africa's state of emergency and its media restrictions ended in June 1990 as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 21, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Under a state of emergency State President P. W. Botha had declared in July 1985, the government banned television, radio and photographic coverage of unrest in South Africa's Black townships on November 2, 1985, requiring print journalists to report only under police escort.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1985-south-africa-state-of-emergency-media-ban" }, { "slug": "1981-poland-martial-law-press-suspended", "title": "Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight", "occurred_on": "1981-12-13", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PL", "country_name": "Poland", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "wojciech-jaruzelski", "leader_name": "Wojciech Jaruzelski", "issue_of_the_day": "Poland's Solidarity trade union movement had grown into a mass challenge to Communist Party rule through 1980 and 1981, and Jaruzelski's government imposed martial law to suppress the movement and the independent press associated with it.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1983-07-22", "outcome_note": "Martial law was formally lifted on July 22, 1983, though reduced press controls in Poland continued until the fall of Communist rule in 1989.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 27, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland, cutting phone and telex lines, suspending nearly all newspapers, and interning thousands of people, most Solidarity trade union journalists among them, within days.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1981-poland-martial-law-press-suspended" }, { "slug": "1980-south-korea-chun-doo-hwan-press-purge", "title": "South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls", "occurred_on": "1980-07-31", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "KR", "country_name": "South Korea", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "KR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "chun-doo-hwan", "leader_name": "Chun Doo-hwan", "issue_of_the_day": "Chun Doo-hwan's military government had just suppressed a pro-democracy uprising centered in the city of Kwangju in May 1980, and used the purge to remove journalists it associated with resistance to press controls during that period.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1987-06-01", "outcome_note": "South Korea's June 1987 democracy movement led to direct presidential elections and an easing of press controls; a 1986 leak of secret press guidelines had already embarrassed the government.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 47, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1980s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Under General Chun Doo-hwan's martial-law government, South Korean authorities ordered newsrooms in 1980 to purge journalists who had resisted press controls or joined a May sit-in strike for press freedom, and closed 172 periodicals, dismissing roughly 2,000 journalists in total.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1980-south-korea-chun-doo-hwan-press-purge" }, { "slug": "1975-india-emergency-press-censorship", "title": "India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency", "occurred_on": "1975-06-26", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "IN", "country_name": "India", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IN", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "indira-gandhi", "leader_name": "Indira Gandhi", "issue_of_the_day": "A court had found Prime Minister Gandhi guilty of election malpractice shortly before the Emergency began, and her government cited threats to internal stability in declaring the state of emergency and imposing press controls the next day.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-03-21", "outcome_note": "Gandhi ended the Emergency and lifted press controls on March 21, 1977, shortly before her party lost the general election that followed.", "stage": "silence", "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": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency on June 25, 1975, and the next day her government imposed pre-press controls on every Indian newspaper, requiring official clearance before publication and later forcibly merging the country's news agencies into one.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1975-india-emergency-press-censorship" }, { "slug": "1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown", "title": "Chile's military government shuts opposition radio stations and newspapers after the 1973 coup", "occurred_on": "1973-09-11", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CL", "country_name": "Chile", "continent": "south-america", "jurisdiction": "CL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "augusto-pinochet", "leader_name": "Augusto Pinochet", "issue_of_the_day": "Chile's armed forces were in the process of overthrowing President Salvador Allende's elected government on September 11, 1973, and moved to suppress broadcasters and newspapers that continued to support him as the coup unfolded.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1990-03-01", "outcome_note": "Press restrictions continued under military rule until Chile's return to civilian government in March 1990, after Pinochet lost a 1988 plebiscite on his continued rule.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 70, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "On the day of the September 11, 1973 military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende, Chile's armed forces bombed and shut down radio stations that opposed the takeover, arrested journalists and closed newspapers aligned with the ousted government, under the military junta led by Augusto Pinochet.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1973-chile-coup-press-shutdown" }, { "slug": "1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures", "title": "Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law", "occurred_on": "1972-09-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "PH", "country_name": "Philippines", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "PH", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "ferdinand-marcos", "leader_name": "Ferdinand Marcos", "issue_of_the_day": "Marcos had declared martial law citing threats from Communist insurgency and civil unrest, and moved immediately to eliminate independent media coverage that might question the declaration or his expanding powers.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1986-02-25", "outcome_note": "Marcos was removed from power in the People Power Revolution of February 22-25, 1986, ending martial-law controls on the Philippine press.", "stage": "silence", "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": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, and the next day ordered the military to take over nearly every newspaper, radio and television station in the Philippines, jailing prominent publishers and editors and requiring government clearance for whatever remained.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1972-philippines-marcos-martial-law-media-closures" }, { "slug": "1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction", "title": "United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers", "occurred_on": "1971-06-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1971-06-30", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the government's request for an injunction against publication failed to overcome the heavy presumption against prior restraint.", "stage": "silence", "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": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper. The Supreme Court lifted it two weeks later, ruling the government had not justified blocking publication in advance.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction" }, { "slug": "1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship", "title": "Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press controls", "occurred_on": "1968-08-21", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "CZ", "country_name": "Czechia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "CZ", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "alexander-dubcek", "leader_name": "Alexander Dubček", "issue_of_the_day": "Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring reforms, including eased press controls, had alarmed the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, who invaded to reverse the liberalization before it could spread further.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1989-11-01", "outcome_note": "Formal press controls in Czechoslovakia ended with the Velvet Revolution of November 1989, which brought down Communist Party rule.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 11, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/country-czechia" }, "era": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on August 20-21, 1968 to end the Prague Spring, a period of liberalization under Alexander Dubček that had included the lifting of press controls. In the invasion's aftermath, the new leadership reimposed government controls of the press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1968-czechoslovakia-normalization-censorship" }, { "slug": "1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press", "title": "Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country", "occurred_on": "1960-05-24", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "EG", "country_name": "Egypt", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "EG", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "tactics": [ "funding_and_ownership_pressure", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "gamal-abdel-nasser", "leader_name": "Gamal Abdel Nasser", "issue_of_the_day": "Nasser's government was consolidating state control over Egypt's economy and institutions in the years following the 1952 revolution, and extended that control to the press as an instrument of its nationalist program.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "State ownership structures created by the 1960 decree, including the government-appointed leadership of major papers such as Al-Ahram, remained in place through the 1980s.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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" }, "era": "1960s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Gamal Abdel Nasser's government issued a decree on May 24, 1960 placing every newspaper and magazine in Egypt under state ownership and management, with the government appointing editors and deciding content, ending private control of the country's press.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1960-egypt-nasser-nationalizes-press" }, { "slug": "1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act", "title": "South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals", "occurred_on": "1950-03-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "ZA", "country_name": "South Africa", "continent": "africa", "jurisdiction": "ZA", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "daniel-francois-malan", "leader_name": "Daniel François Malan", "issue_of_the_day": "South Africa's National Party government, elected in 1948 on a platform of apartheid racial segregation, used the act to suppress the Communist Party of South Africa and, more broadly, organized political opposition to its policies.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1990-02-02", "outcome_note": "The government lifted bans on individuals and organizations under the act and its successors on February 2, 1990, as State President F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 21, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1950s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Under Prime Minister Daniel François Malan, South Africa's parliament approved the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950, defining communism broadly enough to cover most opposition to apartheid. It let the government ban organizations and publications and forbid banned individuals from being quoted at all.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1950-south-africa-suppression-of-communism-act" }, { "slug": "1948-israel-military-censorship-established", "title": "Israel retains a British-era law giving the military the power to review and restrict the press", "occurred_on": "1948-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "IL", "country_name": "Israel", "continent": "asia", "jurisdiction": "IL", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "david-ben-gurion", "leader_name": "David Ben-Gurion", "issue_of_the_day": "Israel's 1948 declaration of independence and the war that followed created an immediate perceived security need, which the retained British-era Press Ordinance and later Editors' Committee arrangement were meant to address by keeping military information out of print.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "The military press-review system built on the 1948 Press Ordinance and the 1953 Editors' Committee remained in force through the 1980s and beyond.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 116, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 116th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1940s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "When Israel declared independence in 1948 under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, it retained a British Mandate-era Press Ordinance giving the military the power to review and restrict publications on security grounds, later formalized through an Editors' Committee that let most Israeli newspapers self-restrict security matters.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1948-israel-military-censorship-established" }, { "slug": "1944-australia-calwell-newspaper-seizure", "title": "Australia's wartime government seizes a Sydney newspaper edition under press controls rules", "occurred_on": "1944-04-16", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "AU", "country_name": "Australia", "continent": "oceania", "jurisdiction": "AU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "john-curtin", "leader_name": "John Curtin", "issue_of_the_day": "Australia remained at war in the Pacific in 1944, and its wartime press controls apparatus, already the subject of tension with newspaper proprietors, moved against the Sunday Telegraph for material it judged to breach the press controls rules.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1944-04-18", "outcome_note": "The High Court of Australia granted an injunction days after the seizure, blocking further suppression of the newspaper's editions.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "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" }, "era": "1940s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Australia's wartime government, under Prime Minister John Curtin, controlled press coverage of military events through the Department of Information. In April 1944, Minister for Information Arthur Calwell ordered the seizure of copies of the Sydney Sunday Telegraph for breaching press controls rules, prompting newspapers' joint protest and a High Court injunction against the seizure.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1944-australia-calwell-newspaper-seizure" }, { "slug": "1939-brazil-vargas-creates-dip", "title": "Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers", "occurred_on": "1939-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "BR", "country_name": "Brazil", "continent": "south-america", "jurisdiction": "BR", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "getulio-vargas", "leader_name": "Getúlio Vargas", "issue_of_the_day": "Vargas had ruled by decree since 1937 under the Estado Novo and used the DIP to promote his government's program and nationalist agenda while suppressing coverage critical of his rule.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1945-01-01", "outcome_note": "The DIP was dissolved in 1945 when the military removed Vargas from power and the Estado Novo dictatorship ended.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 52, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "President Getúlio Vargas created the Department of Press and state messaging in 1939 during Brazil's Estado Novo dictatorship, giving the government direct control over what newspapers, radio and film could publish. The department operated as a central instrument of press controls for six years, until the Estado Novo ended in 1945.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1939-brazil-vargas-creates-dip" }, { "slug": "1938-spain-franco-press-law", "title": "Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law", "occurred_on": "1938-04-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "ES", "country_name": "Spain", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "ES", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "insult_and_defamation_laws", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "francisco-franco", "leader_name": "Francisco Franco", "issue_of_the_day": "Franco's Nationalist forces were still fighting Spain's civil war in April 1938 and used the new Press Law to consolidate direct control over which newspapers could exist and who could work as a journalist within them.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1977-04-01", "outcome_note": "Spain abolished prior press controls by decree in April 1977, after Franco's 1975 death, ahead of the 1978 constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 29, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "While Spain's civil war continued, the Nationalist government led by Francisco Franco enacted a Press Law in April 1938 requiring government permission to found a newspaper, work as a journalist or direct a paper, alongside continued pre-publication press controls and years-long prison terms for vaguely defined offenses.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1938-spain-franco-press-law" }, { "slug": "1933-germany-editors-law", "title": "Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state direction", "occurred_on": "1933-10-04", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "DE", "country_name": "Germany", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "DE", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "credential_control", "tactics": [ "credential_control", "outlet_licensing" ], "leader_slug": "adolf-hitler", "leader_name": "Adolf Hitler", "issue_of_the_day": "Hitler's government, in power only since January 1933, was consolidating control over German public life and moved within months to bring newspapers and their editors directly under state and party direction.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1945-05-08", "outcome_note": "The Editors Law and the Reich Press Chamber ended with Nazi Germany's defeat and unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.", "stage": "silence", "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": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Nine months after Adolf Hitler became chancellor, Germany's Schriftleitergesetz, or Editors Law, required journalists to register with a new state-controlled Reich Press Chamber and barred non-Aryans from the profession, while directing editors to omit anything judged harmful to the Reich's standing.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-germany-editors-law" }, { "slug": "1933-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship", "title": "Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution", "occurred_on": "1933-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "PT", "country_name": "Portugal", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "PT", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "antonio-salazar", "leader_name": "António de Oliveira Salazar", "issue_of_the_day": "Salazar's government was consolidating the Estado Novo behind a new 1933 constitution, and used the moment to formalize a system of press controls it had for years denied operating.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1974-04-25", "outcome_note": "Portugal's press controls apparatus ended with the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which overthrew the Estado Novo.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 10, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1930s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Portugal's government, led by Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, had restricted the press since a 1926 military coup while officially denying it did so. In 1933, alongside a new constitution promising freedom of expression, the government openly established formal press controls for the first time.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1933-portugal-salazar-formal-censorship" }, { "slug": "1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship", "title": "Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publication", "occurred_on": "1922-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "RU", "country_name": "Russia", "continent": "europe", "jurisdiction": "RU", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "outlet_licensing", "prior_restraint" ], "leader_slug": "vladimir-lenin", "leader_name": "Vladimir Lenin", "issue_of_the_day": "The new Soviet government, having just consolidated power after years of revolution and civil war, sought a single, centrally controlled system to replace the uncoordinated military and civilian press controls bodies it had inherited.", "outcome": "ongoing", "outcome_on": "1989-01-01", "outcome_note": "Glavlit's authority over publishing was still largely intact through the 1980s, though its standards were relaxed from 1988 under Gorbachev's glasnost policy before its 1991 dissolution.", "stage": "silence", "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": "1920s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "In 1922, under Vladimir Lenin's government, Soviet Russia created Glavlit, a single agency with final authority to review newspapers, books, plays and even posters before they could be printed or performed. By 1930 no publication in the Soviet Union could appear without its approval.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1922-ussr-glavlit-censorship" }, { "slug": "1917-us-espionage-act-bars-the-masses-from-the-mail", "title": "United States postmaster bars the magazine The Masses from the mail under the Espionage Act", "occurred_on": "1917-07-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The United States had entered the First World War three months earlier and introduced a military draft. The Masses had run cartoons and articles opposing the war and conscription, which the Post Office treated as material likely to obstruct recruiting.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1917-11-01", "outcome_note": "The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Judge Hand's order later in 1917, and the Post Office's mail ban on The Masses stood.", "stage": "silence", "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": "Weeks after the United States entered the First World War, the New York postmaster used the new Espionage Act, a law against interfering with military recruitment, to bar the socialist magazine The Masses from the mail. A judge's order protecting the magazine was reversed on appeal.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-espionage-act-bars-the-masses-from-the-mail" }, { "slug": "1917-us-burleson-mail-ban-milwaukee-leader", "title": "United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate", "occurred_on": "1917-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The Leader had published articles criticizing United States participation in the First World War and the draft, which the Post Office treated as violations of the Espionage Act's ban on obstructing military recruitment.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1921-03-07", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court upheld the revocation of the Leader's mailing rate 7 to 2 in United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson.", "stage": "silence", "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": "Postmaster General Albert Burleson used the wartime Espionage Act to strip the Milwaukee Leader, a socialist daily, of its low-cost second-class mailing rate, cutting off its main channel to readers. The Supreme Court upheld the revocation in 1921, over two dissents warning it amounted to press controls.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-burleson-mail-ban-milwaukee-leader" } ], "other_results": [], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?stage=silence&level=national&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?stage=silence&level=national", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?stage=silence&level=national" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }