| September 12, 2020 | Political appointees alter CDC coronavirus guidance before public release | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Prior restraint | Donald Trump | Unknown |
| July 23, 2020 | Federal officers restrict press access to Portland protests; judge orders them to stop | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | Donald Trump | Reversed (July 23, 2020) |
| April 15, 2020 | Australia's High Court invalidates warrant for raid on journalist Annika Smethurst | Australia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Scott Morrison | Reversed (May 27, 2020) |
| March 30, 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 |
| March 17, 2020 | China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers | China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Xi Jinping | Sustained |
| August 5, 2019 | India imposes a communications blackout in Jammu and Kashmir after revoking the region's special status | India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Narendra Modi | Ongoing (August 5, 2020) |
| June 5, 2019 | Australian Federal Police raid the national broadcaster over reporting on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan | Australia (RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Scott Morrison | Reversed (October 15, 2020) |
| May 23, 2019 | United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Donald Trump | Reversed (June 25, 2024) |
| November 7, 2018 | White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President Trump | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Credential control | Donald Trump | Reversed (November 19, 2018) |
| November 7, 2018 | United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018 | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Credential control | Donald Trump | Reversed (November 19, 2018) |
| October 2, 2018 | Saudi Arabia's government kills journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate | Saudi Arabia (RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180) | Detention and violence | Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud | Unknown |
| September 3, 2018 | Myanmar sentences two Reuters journalists to seven years under the Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre | Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Aung San Suu Kyi | Reversed (May 7, 2019) |
| March 16, 2018 | Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee | Tanzania (RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | John Magufuli | Unknown (April 12, 2018) |
| September 4, 2017 | Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill | Cambodia (RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Hun Sen | Sustained (September 4, 2017) |
| September 1, 2017 | Venezuela expels or denies entry to dozens of foreign journalists covering anti-government protests | Venezuela (RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Nicolas Maduro | Ongoing (January 25, 2018) |
| July 27, 2016 | Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt | Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Sustained (December 31, 2016) |
| December 31, 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 (December 31, 2019) |
| October 17, 2014 | United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Barack Obama | Reversed (October 17, 2014) |
| December 29, 2013 | Egypt arrests and later convicts three Al Jazeera journalists on terrorism-related charges | Egypt (RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180) | Detention and violence | Adly Mansour | Reversed (September 23, 2015) |
| October 10, 2013 | United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013 | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Barack Obama | Unknown |
| August 18, 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 (January 19, 2016) |
| June 25, 2013 | Ecuador's Organic Communication Law creates a regulator that issues hundreds of sanctions against journalists and outlets | Ecuador (RSF 2026 rank: 125th of 180) | Funding and ownership pressure | Rafael Correa | Reversed (February 20, 2019) |
| May 20, 2013 | United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Barack Obama | Sustained (July 12, 2013) |
| May 13, 2013 | United States Justice Department secretly seizes two months of Associated Press phone records | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Barack Obama | Sustained (July 12, 2013) |
| January 25, 2013 | United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalist | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Barack Obama | Upheld by a court (February 3, 2015) |
| December 21, 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 (January 1, 2011) |
| July 5, 2010 | United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Secrets and espionage laws | Barack Obama | Reversed (January 17, 2017) |
| June 21, 2009 | Iran expels a BBC correspondent and restricts foreign journalists after a disputed 2009 election | Iran (RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | Unknown |
| October 7, 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 (June 9, 2014) |
| July 6, 2005 | New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | George W. Bush | Upheld by a court (September 29, 2005) |
| February 10, 2003 | Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | George W. Bush | Sustained (April 14, 2003) |
| March 15, 2002 | Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses | Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Robert Mugabe | Unknown |
| April 14, 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 (April 14, 2001) |
| October 20, 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 (January 1, 2001) |
| September 20, 1998 | Malaysia pressures domestic media and monitors foreign correspondents after arresting former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim | Malaysia (RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Mahathir Mohamad | Unknown |
| July 1995 | Nigeria's military government convicts journalists by special tribunal over coup-plot reporting | Nigeria (RSF 2026 rank: 112th of 180) | Detention and violence | Sani Abacha | Reversed (June 15, 1998) |
| January 17, 1991 | United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf War | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | George H. W. Bush | Sustained (February 28, 1991) |
| June 14, 1989 | China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests | China (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Li Peng | Sustained (January 1, 1990) |
| 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 (September 16, 1994) |
| September 18, 1988 | Burma's new military government tightens pre-publication press controls after seizing power | Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180) | Prior restraint | Saw Maung | Ongoing (January 1, 1989) |
| November 2, 1985 | South Africa bans television and photographic coverage of unrest under a state of emergency | South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | P. W. Botha | Reversed (June 1, 1990) |
| October 25, 1983 | United States military bars journalists from the invasion of Grenada | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Access bans | Ronald Reagan | Reversed (April 1, 1985) |
| December 13, 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 (July 22, 1983) |
| 1981 | Haiti's Duvalier government arrests and deports Radio Haiti-Inter staff, driving its director into exile | Haiti (RSF 2026 rank: 107th of 180) | Expulsion and visa denial | Jean-Claude Duvalier | Reversed (February 1, 1986) |
| July 31, 1980 | South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls | South Korea (RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180) | Licensing and closure of outlets | Chun Doo-hwan | Reversed (June 1, 1987) |
| March 24, 1976 | Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents | Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180) | Detention and violence | Jorge Rafael Videla | Reversed (December 10, 1983) |
| June 26, 1975 | India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency | India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180) | Prior restraint | Indira Gandhi | Reversed (March 21, 1977) |
| September 11, 1973 | Chile's military government shuts opposition radio stations and newspapers after the 1973 coup | Chile (RSF 2026 rank: 70th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Augusto Pinochet | Sustained (March 1, 1990) |
| September 21, 1972 | Philippines President Marcos closes every major news outlet under martial law | Philippines (RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180) | Shutdowns and blocking | Ferdinand Marcos | Reversed (February 25, 1986) |
| September 9, 1971 | United States: Nixon White House "enemies list" naming journalists, September 1971 | United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180) | Surveillance and subpoenas | Richard Nixon | Unknown |