| 4 August 2026 | Russia: asset freezes on exiled "foreign agents", Aug 2026 | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Official labels | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (4 August 2026) |
| 10 March 2026 | Hungary: a ruling-party mayor forcibly removes Telex reporters from a campaign event | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Access bans | Viktor Orban | Ongoing (10 March 2026) |
| 5 September 2025 | Serbian police strike, detain and disarm journalists covering anti-government protests | Serbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180) | Detention and violence | Aleksandar Vucic | Ongoing |
| 20 June 2024 | Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR | Slovakia (RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Robert Fico | Sustained (1 July 2024) |
| 20 December 2023 | Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023 | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Official labels | Viktor Orban | Reversed (30 June 2026) |
| 29 March 2023 | Russia: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Detention and violence | Vladimir Putin | Reversed (1 August 2024) |
| 15 February 2023 | Russia: journalist Maria Ponomarenko is sentenced to six years for reporting on a Mariupol strike | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (15 February 2023) |
| 8 February 2023 | Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to eight years | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Detention and violence | Alexander Lukashenko | Reversed (28 April 2026) |
| 8 February 2023 | Belarus: journalist Andrzej Poczobut is sentenced to eight years for inciting hatred | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Alexander Lukashenko | Reversed (28 April 2026) |
| 5 September 2022 | Russia: journalist Ivan Safronov is sentenced to 22 years for treason | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Vladimir Putin | Ongoing (5 September 2022) |
| 5 September 2022 | Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (5 September 2022) |
| 16 June 2022 | Russia: entry bans, visa restrictions and bureau closures for foreign correspondents | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Access bans | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (16 June 2022) |
| 18 May 2022 | Russia: CBC/Radio-Canada bureau closed and journalists' visas cancelled | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (18 May 2022) |
| 9 March 2022 | Belarus: Deutsche Welle and other outlets labeled 'extremist' | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Official labels | Alexander Lukashenko | Sustained (9 March 2022) |
| 4 March 2022 | Russia: regulator blocks BBC Russian, Deutsche Welle and other outlets | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (4 March 2022) |
| 4 March 2022 | Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Vladimir Putin | Sustained |
| July 2021 | Hungary: investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Viktor Orban | Ongoing (1 July 2021) |
| 18 May 2021 | Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist' | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Alexander Lukashenko | Sustained |
| 23 April 2021 | Russia: independent outlet Meduza designated a 'foreign agent' | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Official labels | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (23 April 2021) |
| April 2021 | Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group | Poland (RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Mateusz Morawiecki | Sustained (1 April 2021) |
| 14 February 2021 | Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Viktor Orban | Upheld by a court (1 September 2021) |
| 29 August 2020 | Belarus: accreditation withdrawn from 17 journalists working for foreign outlets | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Access bans | Alexander Lukashenko | Sustained (29 August 2020) |
| 24 July 2020 | Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Viktor Orban | Sustained (24 July 2020) |
| 30 March 2020 | Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Viktor Orban | Unknown |
| 7 March 2019 | Russia: new laws penalize online "fake news" and "disrespecting authorities" | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Official labels | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (7 March 2019) |
| 29 November 2018 | Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Viktor Orban | Sustained (29 November 2018) |
| 26 October 2018 | Russia: outlet fined $338,000 under the foreign agents law | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Lawsuits against the press | Vladimir Putin | Ongoing (26 October 2018) |
| February 2017 | Malta: minister orders reporter's bank account frozen | Malta (RSF rank: not recorded) | Lawsuits against the press | Joseph Muscat | Unknown |
| 31 December 2015 | Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed | Poland (RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Beata Szydlo | Sustained (31 December 2019) |
| 18 August 2013 | United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden files | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | David Cameron | Upheld by a court (19 January 2016) |
| 21 December 2010 | Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage | Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Viktor Orban | Sustained (1 January 2011) |
| 7 October 2006 | Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya is shot dead in Moscow; a former police officer is later convicted of organizing the killing | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Detention and violence | Vladimir Putin | Upheld by a court (9 June 2014) |
| 14 April 2001 | State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Vladimir Putin | Sustained (14 April 2001) |
| 20 October 1998 | Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger | Serbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180) | Insult and defamation laws | Slobodan Milosevic | Reversed (1 October 2000) |
| 1997 | Belarus jails journalist Pavel Sheremet over his reporting for Russian television station ORT | Belarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180) | Detention and violence | Alexander Lukashenko | Sustained |
| October 1988 | United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Margaret Thatcher | Reversed (16 September 1994) |
| 30 August 1986 | Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986 | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Detention and violence | Mikhail Gorbachev | Reversed (29 September 1986) |
| 13 December 1981 | Poland's martial law government shuts nearly all newspapers and interns journalists overnight | Poland (RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Wojciech Jaruzelski | Reversed (22 July 1983) |
| 17 November 1972 | United Kingdom court bars The Sunday Times from publishing an article on thalidomide | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Prior restraint | Edward Heath | Reversed (26 April 1979) |
| 21 August 1968 | Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia is followed by the return of government press controls | Czechia (RSF 2026 rank: 11th of 180) | Prior restraint | Alexander Dubček | Reversed (1 November 1989) |
| 26 October 1962 | West Germany: police raid Der Spiegel's offices and arrest its editors over a defense article | Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180) | Detention and violence | Konrad Adenauer | Unknown |
| 8 May 1941 | Greece: collaborationist government creates a Directorate-General for Press and Radio to review films and publications before release | Greece (RSF rank: not recorded) | Prior restraint | Georgios Tsolakoglou | Sustained |
| April 1938 | Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law | Spain (RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180) | Credential control | Francisco Franco | Reversed (1 April 1977) |
| 4 October 1933 | Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists, 1933 | Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180) | Credential control | Adolf Hitler | Reversed (8 May 1945) |
| 28 February 1933 | Germany: Reichstag Fire Decree suspends freedom of the press, February 1933 | Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Adolf Hitler | Sustained (1 May 1945) |
| 1933 | Portugal's Salazar government formally establishes press controls under a new constitution | Portugal (RSF 2026 rank: 10th of 180) | Prior restraint | António de Oliveira Salazar | Reversed (25 April 1974) |
| May 1926 | United Kingdom: Government requisitions newsprint and restricts rival newspapers during the 1926 General Strike | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Stanley Baldwin | Ongoing (10 May 1926) |
| 1922 | Glavlit created: Soviet censorship office, 1922 | Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180) | Prior restraint | Vladimir Lenin | Ongoing (1 January 1989) |
| 27 August 1914 | Britain's Official Press Bureau controls newspaper coverage of the First World War | United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180) | Prior restraint | Herbert Henry Asquith | Sustained (12 November 1914) |