Tens of thousands protest Hungarian media law

March 17th, 2011

Demonstrators gathered in Budapest on Tuesday to protest Hungary’s controversial media law, in what has been described as the biggest demonstration since the regime change in 1989. Chief organiser, Anna Vamos, said amendments to the media law do not align with EU law. Protesters also condemned provisions allowing the imposition of arbitrary levy fines on media outlets.

Changes to Hungarian media law adopted

March 9th, 2011

The agreed changes to Hungary’s controversial media law were adopted on Monday.  These alterations were welcomed by the Hungarian media, but have been subsequently dismissed as merely “cosmetic” by critics. Several of the more controversial provisions have been changed, for example the “balanced reporting” requirement, which no longer applies to blogs. No changes have been made to the Media Council, created in December 2010.

Slovak politicians lose right of reply

March 3rd, 2011

The Slovak government has made alterations to a controversial media law which guaranteed politicians, readers and state institutions a right of reply. This was allowed even where allegations made about them were true, but Prime Minister Iveta Radicova, an opposition legislator, announced on Wednesday that politicians would lose this right.