# Search: insult and defamation laws in Europe, from 2020

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Filters: country, continent, tactic, stage, from, to, level, actor, leader, outlet, outcome, source_kind, has_case, plus q, sort (date, date_asc, country, tactic, relevance), per_page (up to 100), page and view (table or cards), as query parameters.

4 incidents match this view.

| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 15 February 2023 | [Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-russia-ponomarenko-fake-news-sentence) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (15 February 2023) |
| 8 February 2023 | [Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut is sentenced to eight years for inciting hatred](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-belarus-poczobut-eight-year-sentence) | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | Reversed (28 April 2026) |
| 4 March 2022 | [Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained |
| 30 March 2020 | [Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Unknown |

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Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=europe&tactic=insult_and_defamation_laws&from=2020. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.