clampdown

plural clampdowns · alternative clamp-down

1. A sudden repressive or punitive restriction or control.

   There is already in the EU a clamour for barriers against competing products from Eastern Europe and Asia, and for a Europe-wide clampdown on 'aliens'.

   1994, Vincent Cable, The World's New Fissures: Identities in Crisis

   3 more examples

   The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus is merely one step towards the imposition of martial law, toward a total clampdown on all forms of peaceful struggle for meaningful change.

   1945, Earl Browder, Political Affairs

   Will there be any further restrictions on travel? Only if the Government imposes them, although it seems unlikely that any further clampdowns will be made on domestic rail travel in case it risks the movement of key workers and essential goods at this critical time. [...]

   2020 April 8, “Network News: COVID-19: Questions and Answers”, in Rail, page 11

   Nigeria’s media regulator has directed all TV and radio stations to delete their Twitter accounts and described its use as unpatriotic, escalating a widely condemned clampdown on social media.

   2021 June 7, “Nigerian broadcasters ordered to stop using ‘unpatriotic’ Twitter”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2022