Key resources: New media laws in Hungary

Resources - an information archive

 


Controversial Hungarian media legislation: Visit the full archive

  • Law texts (EN, HU)
  • Government docs
  • Responses by European bodies
  • Civil society statements
  • Op-eds, editorials
  • News reports

Between July and December 2010, the Hungarian parliament passed a succession of controversial, far-reaching laws which overhauled the regulation of the print, broadcast and online media. After a negotiation process between the Hungarian government and the European Commission, several amendments were passed in March 2011. In December 2011, the Hungarian Constitutional Court declared significant parts of the laws unconstitutional.

The legislation, the final and most contentious piece of which was passed on the eve of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, caused great political and diplomatic controversy. Intergovernmental bodies such as the Council of Europe and the OSCE released a flurry of statements, Hungarian and international journalist and human rights groups expressed their views, and in Budapest tens of thousands of protestors took to the street.

To help researchers, journalists, policy makers, students and advocates find all the information they need about the laws and their effects, the CMCS compiled a comprehensive online archive. It provides links to:

  • The texts of all the laws, and English translations where available
  • Hungarian government statements and responses
  • Statements and reports by European and international intergovermental bodies
  • Statements and reports by international and Hungarian organizations
  • A selection of editorials and opinion pieces
  • An extensive listing of international news reports

The most salient of these are listed below - but visit the full archive for all the links of interest we could find.

 

See also:


The CMCS study Hungarian Media Laws in Europe: An Assessment of the Consistency of Hungary’s Media Laws with European Practices and Norms

 

Hungarian Media Laws in Europe (website)
The interactive website to the CMCS study Hungarian Media Laws in Europe

Header - Laws

New legislation to overhaul Hungary's media laws was first introduced in a parliamentary committee in June 2010. A constitutional amendment to pave the way for new legislation was passed in July and the first far-reaching amendments of existing laws were passed in August. Eventually, two separate, major new pieces of legislation were passed in 2010: the "Press Freedom Act" (or "media constitution") and the "Media Act," both of which were still amended several times in 2011. (For a complete listing of legislation involved, visit the full archive.)

6 July, 2010: Amendment to Article 61 of the Constitution

Amendment to the Article on freedom of speech and freedom of opinion, i.a. defining the tasks of the public service media.

9 November, 2010: Act CIV of 2010 on the freedom of the press and the fundamental rules on media content

The "Press Freedom Act" or so-called "Media Constitution," outlining the general principles of the new media content regulation, amended in March 2011 after negotiations with the European Commission.

31 December 2010, Act CLXXXV of 2010 on media services and mass media:

The "Media Act", the final and most controversial piece of the media law package, replaced the the 1996 law on Radio and Television Broadcasting altogether. The Media Act specifies new content regulations for all media platforms, the authorities of the new media regulatory bodies, and the sanctions and fines for breaches to the new legislation. Amended in March 2011 after negotiations with the European Commission.

19 December 2011, Constitutional Court Decision 1746/B/2010

In a surprise ruling, the Hungarian Constitutional Court declared significant parts of the Press Freedom Act and Media Act unconstitutional. Passages which the Court struck down included ones concerning the application of content regulations, the media authority's authority over print and online media, the legislation's limitations on the protection of journalistic sources, the office of the Media and Communications Commissioner, and the media authority's ability to request legally protected information.


Key Documents (header)

For more resources, visit the full archive.

Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice

Exchange of letters between Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, and Tibor Navracsics, Hungarian Minister of Public Administration and Justice, Deputy Prime Minister

National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) and Media Council

Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes

European Parliament

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue

 

Selected civil society responses (header)

For more resources, visit the full archive.

International Partnership Mission of freedom of expression and media development groups*

*Consisting of Article 19, Freedom House, Index on Censorship, IJC Moldova, International Press Institute (IPI), International Media Support, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Media Diversity Institute (MDI), Open Society Media Programme, Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe, SEEMO and SEENPM

Hungarian Europe Society, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Eötvös Károly Public Policy Institute and the Standards (Mérték) Media Monitor

Amnesty International

Open Society Foundations

Human Rights Watch

Reporters Without Borders

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM)

Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)

Article 19

1 March 2011
Hungary: ARTICLE 19 Calls for Comprehensive Media Law Reform

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) / Article 19

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU)

Standards (Mérték) Media Monitor

Political Capital

Eötvös Károly Institute

Open letter by "members and supporters of the democratic movements that fought against the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe," including former Czech president Vaclav Havel and former Hungarian president Arpad Goncz

Egymillióan a szabad magyar sajtóért / Free Press for Hungary Facebook group

 

Selected opinions (header)

For more opinion pieces, visit the full archive.

10 February 2011
Hungary's Media Law Package
Miklos Haraszti
Note by the former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media - Updated to take into account the agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Commission
Transit - Europäische Revue

Editorials

14 March 2012
Hungary’s Free Media
Kim Lane Scheppele @ The New York Times

5 January 2011
Thoughts on the Hungarian media law
Op-ed by Gyorgy Schopflin, Member of European Parliament for the Fidesz party
EU Observer

6 April 2012
Interview with Viktor Orban, prime minister of Hungary
The Washington Post

6 July 2010
Press laws
Interview with Annamária Szalai, subsequently appointed head of the new media authority NMHH, on the proposed new media legislation
Heti Valasz

Websites (header)

Hungarian government sites, English language pages:

Hungary Press Freedom

A website by the South and East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), with a Chronology of Events Related to the Hungarian Media Law

Hungarian Watch

A critical blog, established "to serve as a resource for media outlets, journalists, and concerned citizens regarding the deteriorating situation in Hungary for the arts and cultural sector." It highlights and collects articles from the international press on developments in Hungary.