Thousands of Hungarians Protest for Press Freedom in Budapest
Thousands of Hungarians protested against a media law that they say opens the way for the government to control press coverage.
The rally, which took place late yesterday before the Parliament building in central Budapest, was the second this year. About 10,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in the capital on Jan. 14.
The law, which took effect this month, has been criticized by governments and newspapers across Europe, clouding the start of Hungary’s six-month European Union presidency. The law gives a five-member panel selected by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party the power to fine or shut down media outlets.
The EU has “serious doubts” about the compatibility of the law with the bloc’s rules, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes wrote in a letter to Hungarian government officials last week. The EU gave Hungary two weeks to respond to the letter or face a formal probe.
The Brussels-based commission is concerned about the legality and scope of a “wide imposition” to all audiovisual media services of an obligation for balanced coverage, according to the letter.
The additional registration requirement for all media, including print and online operations, is another concern because it “can be considered as an unjustified obstacle” for media providers that want to work from Hungary or provide their services in the country from another EU nation, Kroes said.
Orban’s ruling party selecting all five members of a new Media Council with renewable nine-year terms may also undermine media pluralism, Dunja Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s representative for media freedom, said on Jan. 18 in Budapest.
Orban, who at first rejected changing the law in the face of criticism, has since said he will modify passages that the EU determines are incompatible with the bloc’s rules. The government has defended the legislation as a collage of rules taken from other EU countries.
To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at zsimon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Willy Morris at wmorris@bloomberg.net
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