the.com/muzzling
The art of strapping a leash to someone's mouth before it bites back.
means Forcibly preventing a person, animal, or press from speaking, expressing, or making noise.
from From the medieval muzzle, the strap-cage clamped over a dog's snout to stop biting, via Old French musel, snout — by the 1500s humans were getting the figurative version.
Free speechCourts cite muzzling when censorship hits the press.
Legal cousinGag orders are muzzling with a judge's signature.
Scold's bridleA real iron muzzle once silenced gossiping women.