The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Search, stage: punish, national level

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

All filters: country, dates, head of government, sort
CountryAustralia, RSF 2026 rank: 33rd of 180Bangladesh, RSF 2026 rank: 152nd of 180Belarus, RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180China, RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180Egypt, RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180Ethiopia, RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180Germany, RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180Hong Kong, RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180Hungary, RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180India, RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180Iran, RSF 2026 rank: 177th of 180KazakhstanMexicoMoroccoNicaragua, RSF 2026 rank: 168th of 180Pakistan, RSF 2026 rank: 153rd of 180Philippines, RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180Russia, RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180Saudi Arabia, RSF 2026 rank: 176th of 180Serbia, RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180Tunisia, RSF 2026 rank: 137th of 180Türkiye, RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180United Kingdom, RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180Venezuela, RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180Zimbabwe, RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180
ContinentAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaSouth AmericaOceania
TacticDetention and violence 19Surveillance and subpoenas 18Expulsion and visa denial 12Secrets and espionage laws 12Insult and defamation laws 11Access bans 5Credential control 4Shutdowns and blocking 4Lawsuits against the press 4Licensing and closure of outlets 2Official labels 1Funding and ownership pressure 1Prior restraint 1
StagePunish 63
OutcomeSustained 20Reversed 14Ongoing 10Upheld by a court 10Unknown 9
LevelNational 63
Head of governmentAbiy AhmedAdly MansourAleksandar VucicAlexander LukashenkoBarack ObamaDaniel OrtegaDavid CameronDonald TrumpDwight D. EisenhowerEmmerson MnangagwaEnrique Pena NietoGeorge W. BushJoe BidenJohn LeeKais SaiedKassym-Jomart TokayevKonrad AdenauerLi PengMahmoud AhmadinejadMikhail GorbachevMuhammad YunusNarendra ModiNicolas MaduroRecep Tayyip ErdoğanRichard NixonRobert MugabeRodrigo DuterteRonald ReaganSaadeddine OthmaniSalman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudScott MorrisonShehbaz SharifSlobodan MilosevicTheodore RooseveltViktor OrbanVladimir PutinWilliam Howard TaftWoodrow WilsonXi Jinping

63 incidents match this view. Showing 13 on page 2 of 2.

TableCardsCSVJSONMarkdown
DateIncidentCountryTacticHead of governmentOutcome
12 May 2005Zimbabwe: the High Court refuses to accredit Daily News journalists under the media registration lawZimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)Credential controlRobert MugabeUpheld by a court (12 May 2005)
20 October 1998Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial dangerSerbia (RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180)Insult and defamation lawsSlobodan MilosevicReversed (1 October 2000)
1997Belarus jails journalist Pavel Sheremet over his reporting for Russian television station ORTBelarus (RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180)Detention and violenceAlexander LukashenkoSustained
14 June 1989China expels foreign journalists and restricts coverage of the Tiananmen Square protestsChina (RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180)Expulsion and visa denialLi PengSustained (1 January 1990)
30 August 1986Soviet Union: arrest and seven-week detention of American correspondent Nicholas Daniloff in Moscow, 1986Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)Detention and violenceMikhail GorbachevReversed (29 September 1986)
1985United States: Espionage Act conviction of Samuel Loring Morison for leaking satellite photographs to Jane's Defence Weekly, 1985 to 1988United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsRonald ReaganUpheld by a court (1 January 1988)
1969United States Supreme Court rules reporters have no privilege to refuse grand jury subpoenasUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasRichard NixonUpheld by a court (29 June 1972)
26 October 1962West Germany: police raid Der Spiegel's offices and arrest its editors over a defense articleGermany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)Detention and violenceKonrad AdenauerUnknown
November 1955United States Senate panel subpoenas dozens of New York Times journalists over Communist tiesUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Surveillance and subpoenasDwight D. EisenhowerSustained (1 December 1956)
26 June 1918United States convicts newspaper editor Jacob Frohwerk under the Espionage Act, June 1918United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Secrets and espionage lawsWoodrow WilsonUpheld by a court (10 March 1919)
1917United States convicts Mother Earth editor Emma Goldman of draft conspiracy and bars her magazine from the mailUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Detention and violenceWoodrow WilsonUpheld by a court (14 January 1918)
4 March 1909United States: President Theodore Roosevelt seeks criminal libel indictments against the New York World and the Indianapolis News over Panama Canal reportingUnited States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)Insult and defamation lawsTheodore RooseveltReversed (3 January 1911)
1901Philippines: United States colonial government's libel law is used to close the newspaper El RenacimientoPhilippines (RSF 2026 rank: 114th of 180)Insult and defamation lawsWilliam Howard TaftUpheld by a court (1 January 1914)
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