The War On News

How governments have limited journalists, 1900 to today.

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20 incidents match this view.

DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
August 4, 2026Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026RussiaOfficial labelsVladimir PutinSustained (August 4, 2026)
September 5, 2025Serbian police strike, detain and disarm journalists covering anti-government protestsSerbiaDetention and violenceAleksandar VucicOngoing
June 20, 2024Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVRSlovakiaLicensing and closure of outletsRobert FicoSustained (July 4, 2024)
December 20, 2023Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023HungaryOfficial labelsViktor OrbanReversed (June 30, 2026)
March 4, 2022Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prisonRussiaInsult and defamation lawsVladimir PutinSustained
May 19, 2021Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist'BelarusShutdowns and blockingAlexander LukashenkoSustained
March 30, 2020Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powersHungaryInsult and defamation lawsViktor OrbanUnknown
December 31, 2015Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissedPolandFunding and ownership pressureBeata SzydloSustained (December 31, 2019)
August 18, 2013United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden filesUnited KingdomSurveillance and subpoenasDavid CameronUpheld by a court (January 19, 2016)
December 21, 2010Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverageHungaryFunding and ownership pressureViktor OrbanSustained (January 1, 2011)
October 7, 2006Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya is shot dead in Moscow; a former police officer is later convicted of organizing the killingRussiaDetention and violenceVladimir PutinUpheld by a court (June 9, 2014)
April 14, 2001State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television networkRussiaFunding and ownership pressureVladimir PutinSustained (April 14, 2001)
October 20, 1998Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial dangerSerbiaInsult and defamation lawsSlobodan MilosevicReversed (January 1, 2001)
October 1988United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voicesUnited KingdomLicensing and closure of outletsMargaret ThatcherReversed (September 16, 1994)
December 13, 1981Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnightPolandShutdowns and blockingWojciech JaruzelskiReversed (July 22, 1983)
August 21, 1968Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press press controlsCzechiaPrior restraintAlexander DubčekReversed (November 1, 1989)
April 1938Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press LawSpainCredential controlFrancisco FrancoReversed (April 1, 1977)
October 4, 1933Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists from the press and puts editors under state directionGermanyCredential controlAdolf HitlerReversed (May 8, 1945)
1933Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press press controls under a new constitutionPortugalPrior restraintAntónio de Oliveira SalazarReversed (April 25, 1974)
1922Soviet Russia creates Glavlit, a central office to review all printed material before publicationRussiaPrior restraintVladimir LeninOngoing (January 1, 1989)
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