A law that holds a prison sentence of up to five years for spreading ”false information” is part of new measures against COVID-19. As Fanny Facsar reports, journalists fear it could make it even harder to report news. These are turbulent times in Hungary, with a single political decision receiving massive international attention.
The government’s latest move was to prolong the emergency decree for an indefinite time, a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of those emergency powers is paragraph 337, which contains a prison sentence of up to five years for spreading ”false information.” Some journalists in Hungary now fear this may make it even harder to report the news. Most of the Hungarian media is either managed or owned by people loyal to the government. But there are still some critical outlets — online and smaller newspapers — which have raised the alarm about the law.
Despite the new law, Batka wants to report like he did in the past, without any fear. On a stroll through Budapest, by chance I get into a conversation with a woman working in fashion design. It will be anonymous sources like her that Hungarian journalists will have to rely on to report about the true scale of the crisis, sources they will not find in government statements. But whether it will be labeled as ”false information” with dire consequences for the author is the question that no one can answer today. All legal tools to silence free media are now in place.
Source: DW
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