prior restraint
noun
: governmental prohibition imposed on expression before the expression actually takes place
Examples of prior restraint in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That lawsuit amounts to a request for a blatantly unconstitutional prior restraint.
—
Seth Stern, Orange County Register, 13 Feb. 2024
Enlarge Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images North America
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to review an appeal from X (formerly Twitter), alleging that the US government's censorship of X transparency reports served as a prior restraint on the platform's speech and was unconstitutional.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2024
The Commission required that Mr. Musk subject himself to an unconstitutional prior restraint: preapproval of his material public communications about Tesla by a Tesla securities lawyer.
—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2023
Media and constitutional scholars have said the city’s arguments clearly call for an unconstitutional prior restraint on information that is already in the public domain and cannot possibly be retrieved.
—Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for prior restraint 
Seth Stern, Orange County Register, 13 Feb. 2024
Enlarge Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images North America
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to review an appeal from X (formerly Twitter), alleging that the US government's censorship of X transparency reports served as a prior restraint on the platform's speech and was unconstitutional.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2024
The Commission required that Mr. Musk subject himself to an unconstitutional prior restraint: preapproval of his material public communications about Tesla by a Tesla securities lawyer.
—Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2023
Media and constitutional scholars have said the city’s arguments clearly call for an unconstitutional prior restraint on information that is already in the public domain and cannot possibly be retrieved.
—Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for prior restraint
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prior restraint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near prior restraint
Cite this Entry
“Prior restraint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prior%20restraint. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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