Today, in collaboration with @mertekmonitor.bsky.social, the Lab issued a report documenting how media capture and targeted pressure work together to narrow the space for independent journalism in Hungary. It proposes recommendations for countering this repression.
www.law.nyu.edu/rule-law-lab...
Lessons from the Hungarian campaign 4 months before the election campaign: fake-profile network full with AI-generated contents distribute pro-government messages on Facebook.
Media freedom organizations called on the European Board for Media Services (Media Board) – the independent EU advisory body established by the EMFA – to initiate an advisory opinion on the takeover of Ringier publisher in Hungary and its negative impact on media freedom.
The same story happened in 1993, but what a difference between the two decisions and the two era!
"Ringier, which owned Glamour’s Hungarian edition and numerous other women’s magazines as well as Blikk, had received an offer it could not refuse from a pro-Orbán group called Indamedia" - important piece from Ivan Zsolt Nagy, former editor-in-chief of Blikk. #Hungary
#Hungary: Stakeholders met during a recent @coemediafreedom.bsky.social mission described a severely restricted media environment within which independent journalism operates, while also highlighting the deep political polarisation shaping the run-up to the 2026 elections. More findings ⤵️
Ringier was the last big international investor in the Hungarian print publishing market and it sold its portfolio on last Friday. Background from @floragaramvolgyi.bsky.social in @theguardian.com
Our new paper has been published in @cogitatiomac.bsky.social. The paper is about Megafon which is a Hungarian political influencer group, a typical example for state sponsored disinfo.
The Hungarian government constantly talks about sovereignty, while the Hungarian ‘public service’ media cooperates with Chinese state propaganda.
27 EU member states mean 27 policy environments to deal with #disinformation . On top of that, there is the EU policy that applies in all member states. We had a country-by-country look in this EDMO report. edmo.eu/wp-content/u...
🇭🇺#Hungary: A 'foreign agent'-style bill which would allow blacklisting, financial restriction & closure of media receiving foreign funds poses a severe threat to independent journalism & #pressfreedom & should be condemned and challenged under EU law👇
buff.ly/LZjBYFF
"Democracy, public participation and social action do not threaten Hungary's sovereignty - rather the government threatens Hungarian democracy" - joint statement of Hungarian civil society organizations and independent media outlets
+1: statement of Magyar Hang, incl. the link to the complaint and the economic analysis. hang.hu/info/stateme...
The investigation into Mertek's complaint is still ongoing. We hope that the two documents together will convince @ec.europa.eu that action must be taken against illegal state aid to the Hungarian media on the basis of competition law. 2/2
"Viktor Orbán’s government is being accused of handing more than €1bn in unlawful subsidies to pro-government media (...)" A new complaint has been submitted to DG COMP regarding the market-distorting effect of state advertising. 1/2 on.ft.com/4lOTeLB
Agnes Urban, director of Mertek Media Monitor published a paper about the Hungarian media capture (The Restructuring of the Hungarian Media System). The pdf is downloadable. cjssp.uni-corvinus.hu/index.php/cj...
HDMO, the Hungarian member of the @edmo-eu.bsky.social hub has a conference today in Budapest with full house. Fight against disinformation is really an issue here.
Innovation Fair in Budapest for local media sustainability. Brilliant event organized by Center for Sustainable Media and @mediadiversity.bsky.social, supported by @ec.europa.eu. With @erdelyip.bsky.social
HDMO, the Hungarian member of @edmo-eu.bsky.social is organising a conference on the project's achievements so far and on further possible tools to combat disinformation. The event will take place in Budapest on April 2. politicalcapital.hu/news.php?art...
💥 Viktor Orbán’s intelligence agency is compiling a blacklist of so-called foreign agents, NGOs, and media outlets that received support from the US and the EU—whom Orbán has labeled "stink bugs" and vowed to "eliminate."
🍲This and more scoops in @vsquare.bsky.social's latest Goulash newsletter.
"The Dynasty" documentary of @direkt36.bsky.social has just reached 3.5 million views. The film shows how Viktor Orbán's family became billionaires over the past three decades. English subtitle is available. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ4S...
🤯After Viktor Orbán called his opponents “stink bugs” and talked of getting rid of them, news site Telex asked President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok to comment. In response, the president’s comms director labeled Telex journalists "degenerates" / "defects" and posted a photo of a stink bug. Seriously.
#Hungary: IPI today warns of a looming crackdown by the government on independent media, in the wake of recent incendiary comments by PM Orbán in which he vowed to eliminate all media outlets & other organisations that have received foreign funding.
"Already reeling from the impact of the huge funding cut resulting from the USAID freeze, it is unclear where civil society organizations and independent media across Central and Eastern Europe go from here."
