Tactic
Credential control
A government decides who counts as a journalist through passes, accreditation or licences issued to individual reporters. Officials may refuse, suspend or revoke these credentials, or attach new conditions to them. Because many press areas admit only accredited reporters, control of credentials works as control of access.
The earliest incident in the record using this tactic is dated 4 October 1933.
The ladder for credential control: where this tactic has led, stage by stage
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
Incidents by country and year
China, RSF 2026 rank: 178th of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2020 | China expels American journalists from three major U.S. newspapers | Punish | Xi Jinping | Sustained |
| 18 March 2020 | China: press credentials and visas withheld from correspondents at three American newspapers | Punish | Xi Jinping | Sustained (3 March 2021) |
Germany, RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 October 1933 | Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists, 1933 | Silence | Adolf Hitler | Reversed (8 May 1945) |
Kazakhstan, RSF rank: not recorded
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 August 2024 | Kazakhstan: new accreditation rules let officials withdraw a journalist's pass for off-topic questions | Punish | Kassym-Jomart Tokayev | Ongoing (3 September 2024) |
Spain, RSF 2026 rank: 29th of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1938 | Franco's Spain requires state permission to be a journalist under a wartime Press Law | Silence | Francisco Franco | Reversed (1 April 1977) |
Türkiye, RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2021 | Türkiye: the presidency's press card system is found restrictive by the country's top administrative court | Pressure | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | Reversed (1 April 2021) |
United States, RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November 2018 | White House revokes CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press credential after a news conference exchange with President Trump | Restrict | Donald Trump | Reversed (19 November 2018) |
| 7 November 2018 | United States: White House suspension of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard pass, November 2018 | Restrict | Donald Trump | Reversed (19 November 2018) |
| 25 February 2025 | United States: White House takes over selection of the presidential press pool, February 2025 | Restrict | Donald Trump | Sustained (22 September 2026) |
| 19 September 2025 | United States: Department of Defense press credential rules requiring approval before release of information, September 2025 | Restrict | Donald Trump | Ongoing (9 April 2026) |
| 15 October 2025 | United States: News organizations turn in their Pentagon press credentials, October 2025 | Restrict | Donald Trump | Ongoing (9 April 2026) |
| 18 September 2026 | CNN, MS NOW, Politico hard passes deactivated, 2026 | Restrict | Donald Trump | Ongoing (21 September 2026) |
Zimbabwe, RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180
| Date | Incident | Stage | Head of government | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May 2005 | Zimbabwe: the High Court refuses to accredit Daily News journalists under the media registration law | Punish | Robert Mugabe | Upheld by a court (12 May 2005) |