CMDS Publishes Report on the State of Internet Freedom in Hungary as Part of Comparative Study of the Visegrad4 Countries
CMDS is pleased to announce publication of a report on the state of internet freedom in Hungary, as part of a study of the Visegrad countries (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) led by Transitions and PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society). The report was produced by Gábor Polyák (Mérték Média Monitor), Kate Coyer (CMDS), and Joost van Beek (CMDS).
The Hungarian case study found that while domestic and international pressure led to the Hungarian government rolling back a few of the most severe restrictions on online and other media, the scope of media and Internet regulation has increased significantly over the past four years; that publishers and bloggers are vulnerable to heavy fines, sanctions, and formal and informal government pressure; that regulatory bodies lack transparency and diversity of membership; and that serious ambiguity exists within the new criminal code and other opaque rules leaving room for abuse of authority over online content filtering and blockage. The study concludes with a series of recommendations for improving freedom online.
The study, Internet Freedom 2014: Visegrad Four was undertaken to raise the public profile of Internet freedom and censorship issues in the Visegrad countries and internationally. Independent think-tanks and research centers in each of the four countries compiled the reports with a common methodology designed by PASOS. The study was made possible with financial support from Google.
The findings of the four reports revealed that there are big differences between the four post-communist Visegrad countries in terms of rights of freedom of expression, level of surveillance of online activity by police and intelligence agencies, and in the way the Internet is governed. The Czech Republic was found to have the strongest internet freedom of the four; with Hungary scoring the lowest.
The study shows that the Czech Republic and Poland are staunch supporters of Internet freedom at home and abroad, engaging in intergovernmental forums in alliance with democratic governments that oppose state regulation and censorship of Internet content. In sharp contrast, publishers and bloggers in Hungary remain vulnerable to heavy fines and other sanctions, even after international pressure forced the government to roll back restrictions on online and other media.
In all four countries, reforms are required of the legal framework and its implementation, for instance concerning the rights and responsibilities of online media and the boundaries of freedom of expression for bloggers and journalists. Legislation needs to be modernized to reflect developments in the online world, and to recognize the enormous shift in personal communication and news delivery to the Internet.
The Hungarian study further concluded that the legal requirement for media, including online news sites, to register with the Media Council, needs to be more clearly defined, and remains controversial even after being eased under pressure from the EU. It also found that specific media laws regulating content are unnecessary and inconsistent with international norms and standards. New revenue-based tax burdens on media outlets impose undue pressure on media companies and should be based on profits rather than revenue or withdrawn altogether. The study recommends that defamation and libel should be decriminalized (so those accused are subject only to civil actions, not, as at present, to criminal prosecution).
The Hungarian study on Internet freedom is available for download below. The overview and country reports for Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic can be reached from the project site: http://www.internetfreedomvisegrad.org/
