Press rights

[Libeccio-DD]

Changed most European, North and South American countries to have censored press. Changed the Ionian Islands to state press and Norway to free press.

https://archive.org/details/jstor-2337886/page/n1/mode/2up

[arkhometha]

That's a big change coming from a single source. I'd need to know specifically what are you basing it (as in quotes to justify) on from the source you provided as I can see notoriously absolutist states - like Russia - moving away from state controlled to censored press.

Besides France - which has clear statements that they had state-press before the revolution but not after - the only info I gather are number of periodicals. I'm assuming then that you are gathering the information from the existence of private owned outlets as a sign they are not all state-controlled. If that is the case, I must caution: state-controlled does not necessarily mean state-owned.

[Libeccio-DD]

I see your point. However in the past the press rights of the Ionian Islands and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies were changed from state press to censored press.

Here's an article of the Ionian constitution regarding press rights
"IV. There shall be a general printing office in the United States of the Ionian Islands, which shall be established at the permanent seat of the government there of, and the press shall be placed under the immediate control of the senate, and of his excellency the lord high commissioner of the protecting sovereign, and under the superintendence of the secretary of the general department of the senate; and no other printing-press shall be set up and employed, without the previous license of the senate, and the sanction of his excellency the lord high commissioner of the protecting sovereign."
https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Ionian_Islands-charter1817.pdf

As for Two Sicilies the press rights were changed to censored press because of this source https://www.jstor.org/stable/2980710?seq=27#metadata_info_tab_contents which states "The periodical press, subject to a censorship, sends forth little beyond monthly and semi-weekly publications, compiled from foreign journals, and barren of general interest.". Does this mean that the press wasn't state controlled?

Were these two changes a mistake? I could change this pull request to just revert the press rights of the Ionian Islands and Two Sicilies to state press if that's the case.