Hungary’s new media laws have been criticised for showing contempt for democratic principles by introducing the creation of a strong censorship authority and a separation of powers. In particular, the law gives the government the power to control the internet, endangering the freedom of speech and journalism in general. Whilst these problems have been debated on a European level, mass media usually do not provide much information on grassroots movements fighting these regulations through activism and protest. One of them is Milla, a network of activists focusing on social justice and media freedom in Hungary. Actions are largely coordinated online via social networks, e.g. the One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary and (Milla) Facebook site.
The One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary (Milla) Facebook site, was established in December 2010, right after the first draft of the new Media Laws was published. Soon, the number of organizers increased. A big protest in March 2011 was planned by sixty to seventy people and the fluid group is now organized into around fifty core members.
The Milla network is not a political party and does not wish to support any, it is not even an organization, but a grassroots movement. “There are many different types of people among us, many of them have never met before Milla. We are here for the same reason: to defend democratic freedom and human rights.” says an organiser.
The central aims of the network are twofold:
- To show politicians that active and informed people hold an important position of power: If they oppose political or popular programmes and concepts, they will take to the streets, write letters and request public information. When citizens know about their rights and act on that knowledge, politicians will know that citizens are capable of replacing them. People can create an alternative system and act as an opposition if parliamentary ones are incapable of doing so.
- To create a platform for different civil or political interest groups and individual activists. The more independent and diverse groups there are, the stronger the civil sphere is. One aim is to create a sense of community, so that the peoples’ motives for taking action are not only based on the individual’s immediate situation.
Currently, Hungary is facing many problems. On the political level, the legitimacy of politicians is being questioned, the Hungarian President has been accused of plagiarism, and many want to see the PM leave office. In 2010, the governing party Fidesz, won 53% of the votes, which earned them a two-third majority in parliament. According to new polls, they have only achieved 16% recently. Yet their parliamentary majority allowed them to pass more than 350 laws in the last 18 months, including a new constitution – which was not addressed in the previous election campaign, nor made subject to any referendum or discussion with experts or the public.
The opposition parties did walk out on Fidesz during voting for the new Basic Law in April of last year. The next important event for parliamentary opposition, happened a day before Christmas, when the Hungarian police detained opposition MPs who were involved in a chain protest outside of Parliament, objecting to the adoption of key laws on elections, taxation and the central bank. Many Hungarians believe that these laws will have large and long-term influence on their lives, even if Fidesz should not become the governing party from 2014.
There is a long list of questionable actions by the government. Amongst them are the so called ‘on-off tango’ with the IMF; nepotism in relation to the “House of Contemporary Arts” (Trafo), the presence of Christianity in the new Constitution, and many more. Related to the violation of freedom of speech and media freedom, a major issue was the sacking of two journalists who have been on hunger strike since the 10th of December. These employees reported that pro-government editors frequently interfered with their work. Other incidents were the close scrutiny of Atlatszo.hu, the first Hungarian investigative online journalism site that was taken to court just after its launch for not identifying a confidential source or its informants, or the fact that a large amount of state media workers with anti-governmental views were made redundant. On top of that, no broadcast frequency was given to an opposition radio station to transmit (Klubradio), and there was no coverage or an underrepresentation of anti-government rallies in the news – like the massive protests organised by Milla on the 23rd of October and the 15th of March 2011.
The protest that followed the hunger strike on January 2nd attracted world-wide attention. However, Hungarian state television reporters somehow “missed” the crowd and their report of the protest was based on an empty side road scene. By contrast, their subsequent coverage of the pro-government rally on the same road did not miss the crowd – they even exaggerated its size and the state television programme was interrupted with breaking news on the rally.
Censorship can be direct or indirect. Whilst direct censorship comprises obvious acts like those mentioned above, indirect censorship thrives on fear and results in silence. Volunteers participating in the “I don’t like the system” video initiated by Milla, a campaign for the 23rd October protest which reached 660,000 hits on YouTube, requested to be taken out of the clip afterwards, as their boss “wanted to have a word” with them. Such things do not only happen to individuals, but can be found on the organisational level as well. In Hungary, many civil organisations are funded by the government. Thus, the whole system is doomed to failure and journalistic autonomy hard to realise. Additionally, modern surveillance technologies might play a role.
The credibility of political actions is undermined by politicians’ attitudes. If those in political power lie and don’t resign when they get caught, but even come up with misleading statements, people will lose their faith in justice. This could be one of the reasons that nearly 60% of Hungarians are currently not interested in voting. Many feel that they have no say or cannot imagine being represented by politicians. As for the social situation, the number of poor people increases significantly. Not to mention the country’s currency troubles and other economic factors.
Many members of Milla and other Hungarian activists feel that these issues are not only the result of the government’s acts, but based on twenty years of apathy that many are responsible for: anyone who has behaved and created the conditions, but also anyone who stayed silent and let them be created.
The aim of Milla is to put more energy into this fight and take action at the next level. “To all the people fighting for their rights around the world we would like to send the same message: Stay strong, keep your head up, commit yourself to mutual respect and do so in a democratic but in the most professional way possible. With this attitude, goodwill will flow back to you.”
By the organisers of the One Million for the Freedom of Press in Hungary Facebook Community