Search, stage: pressure, outcome sustained
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
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Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026
On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consul…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
El Salvador: freeze on assets of shareholders in El Faro's parent company, February to April 2026
Between February and April 2026, the government of El Salvador, headed by the president, Nayib Bukele, placed "preventative annotations" on a bank account and real estate belonging to two partners of Trípode S.A. de C.V., the parent compan…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Nayib Bukele · Sustained
FCC approves Paramount-Skydance merger after CBS ombudsman and anti-DEI pledges
The Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount's sale to Skydance Media after Skydance agreed to install an ombudsman to review complaints of bias at CBS News for two years and pledged to end diversity, equity and inclusion progr…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Sustained
Congress cuts $1.1 billion in federal funding for public broadcasting
At President Trump's request, Congress passed a rescissions package clawing back roughly $1.1 billion already appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, eliminating federal funding for NPR, PBS and their member stations.
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Sustained
United States: Paramount settlement of Donald Trump's lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, July 2025
On July 1, 2025, Paramount, the parent company of the United States broadcaster CBS News, announced that it would settle for US$16 million a lawsuit brought by Donald Trump, the president of the United States, over how the CBS program 60 M…
Lawsuits against the press · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Sustained
United States: Department of Justice rescission of rules limiting subpoenas of journalists, April 2025
On April 25, 2025, the Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi, head of the Department of Justice, the federal department that prosecutes federal crimes, rescinded rules adopted in 2021 and 2022 under her predecessor, Merrick Garl…
Surveillance and subpoenas · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Sustained
60 Minutes executive producer resigns, citing lost editorial independence
60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens resigned, saying corporate owner Paramount had begun supervising the program's content in new ways while it faced President Trump's lawsuit over a Harris interview and pursued a sale requiring feder…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Donald Trump · Sustained
Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR
Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture minist…
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Pressure · Head of government Robert Fico · Sustained
Georgia enacts 'foreign influence' law requiring media to register as foreign-backed
Georgia's parliament passed a law requiring media and civil-society groups that receive 20 percent or more of their funding from abroad to register as organizations "serving the interests of a foreign power," over mass street protests and…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Irakli Kobakhidze · Sustained
Turkiye: the broadcast regulator fines and suspends channels for earthquake coverage
Turkiye's broadcast regulator, RTUK, fined three television channels and suspended the next five episodes of two of their programs after they aired criticism of the government's response to the February 2023 earthquakes.
Prior restraint · Stage Pressure · Head of government Recep Tayyip Erdoğan · Sustained
Belarus: Deutsche Welle and other outlets labeled 'extremist'
A Minsk court declared all output from German broadcaster Deutsche Welle "extremist," alongside a local newspaper and a Russian blogger's videos, making it a crime to produce, store or share the labeled material, as a former correspondent…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Alexander Lukashenko · Sustained
Russia: independent outlet Meduza designated a 'foreign agent'
Russia's Justice Ministry labeled the independent news site Meduza and outlet PASMI "foreign agents," a status requiring constant public disclosure, quarterly reports and audits, and carrying up to two years in prison for noncompliance, wh…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu
Index.hu, Hungary's most-read independent news site, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull weeks after he warned that a change in ownership threatened its independence. Most of the newsroom resigned within days.
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Sustained
Russia: new laws penalize online "fake news" and "disrespecting authorities"
Russia's parliament passed laws letting courts jail and fine people, including journalists, for posting information the government alone judges to be false, or for statements found to disrespect officials or state symbols online.
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed
Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subs…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Beata Szydlo · Sustained
Vietnam: Decree 72 restricts blogs to personal information
Vietnam's Decree 72 took effect in September 2013, barring bloggers and social media users from linking to or reposting news from press organizations or foreign government websites, restricting them to sharing personal information only.
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Nguyen Tan Dung · Sustained
Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage
Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, fo…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Sustained
United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press
Twelve days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Office of Censorship. Its director, Byron Price, a former Associated Press editor, wrote a Code of Wartime Practices asking newspapers and broadcasters…
Prior restraint · Stage Pressure · Head of government Franklin D. Roosevelt · Sustained