— Istvan Devenyi, editor at Magyar Hang, March 2023
The government deprives Hungarians of vital information by making it unusually difficult for independent journalists and others to access information from public authorities. Journalists told Human Rights Watch that obstacles include: no response or slow response by public authorities to requests for data and public information that should be readily provided under freedom of information laws; lack of physical access to, or responses from, government officials and institutions; and the drying up of sources primarily within government and state institutions.
According to journalists, problems in accessing information increased after the government in March 2020 declared a state of emergency due to Covid-19, allowing it to rule by decree without parliamentary or effective judicial oversight. The state of emergency extended the response for public institutions to freedom of information requests from 15 to up to 90 days, frequently resulting in information received being outdated or if provided, heavily redacted. The regulation ceased in January 2023.
The government also used the Covid-19 state of emergency to prevent hospital workers from speaking to independent media, criminalized “fear mongering” and the spreading of “fake news” during the pandemic and banned independent journalists from visiting hospitals.
Journalists told Human Rights Watch they struggle to obtain timely information on what should be straightforward subjects. Journalists at Direkt36 for example struggled for a year to obtain public information about the number of hospital acquired infections from 2017 to 2021 and only received it after suing authorities. “If you get any response, which is rare, it’s heavily redacted, it’s too late, it’s no longer a story,” Andras Kiraly, editor at independent online news site 444.hu, said. “But most often, authorities don’t even bother responding at all,” Kiraly said.
Atlatszo editor Bodoky described how authorities use various methods to obscure information, if they respond to freedom of information requests at all, including forwarding information as illegible Excel sheets and blurred scans that are all but incomprehensible to the reader. As a result, independent journalists and outlets too often have to resort to court proceedings, suing authorities for failing to provide public information. “We have taken multiple freedom of information request cases to the courts,” Bodoky said. “We usually win those cases but by the time we get access, which can take up to two years, the story is not interesting or relevant anymore.”
Independent media outlets told Human Rights Watch that regularly-held government press briefings are one of few fora where they get a chance to ask questions and sometimes get answers. Even during such briefings, pro-government outlets are favored by the government, with others are among the last to be called upon. Andras Kiraly, editor at 444.hu, said that while his outlet receives invitations to government press conferences and attends, 444.hu is among the last to be allowed to ask questions and frequently receives no substantive answers to questions from the Prime Minister’s Office hosting the conferences.
One independent outlet, Magyar Hang, does not even get invites to such briefings and its reporters do not gain access. “They [the government] usually claim the room is full, which is of course not true. We don’t even get invites to government press conferences,” Istvan Devenyi, journalist at Magyar Hang, said. Despite repeated questions by Magyar Hang and other outlets as to why the outlet is not allowed to attend the briefings, the government has failed to provide a concrete reason. Magyar Hang is one of the biggest national news weeklies in Hungary; and pro-government outlets with significantly smaller circulation regularly attend government press briefings.
Journalists also face difficulties meeting with or posing questions to ruling party parliamentarians and government officials for responses to questions on matters of public interest. Following amendments to the house rules by the speaker Lajos Kover (a Fidesz MP) in 2019, journalists are restricted to a small cordoned off pen in parliament which ruling party politicians easily evade, thus avoiding their questions.
Similarly, the Prime Minister’s office building has been cordoned off since late November 2021, with a large police presence guarding the area. The cordon prevents journalists from asking questions of the prime minister and other government officials. The authorities claim it is a construction site and also refer to its status as a “protected object,” a security designation used for a number of high-profile government sites, to justify the cordon. While adjacent buildings have construction going on, there is no visible construction to the Prime Minister’s office building and government officials walk in and out of the area without protective gear, as prescribed by law for entering a construction site. Police in July confirmed to local activists that they had orders to protect the site and, by extension, Prime Minister Orban.
Obstructing access to information and officials interfering with the work of journalists demonstrates the government’s abuse of power and harmful effects on freedom of information and the work of free press.
According to an investigation by the European Parliament Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA), the Hungarian government has used Pegasus spyware, which it purchased in 2017, to target journalists, politicians, and activists. The European Parliament has called for a full investigation by Hungarian authorities into the misuse of Pegasus and for institutional and legal safeguards to prevent future abuse. The Hungarian government has admitted purchasing the software but denied using it on Hungarian citizens. A January 2022 report by the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (hereinafter ”Data Protection Authority”) found that the government’s use of Pegasus spyware against citizens was lawful, justifying use due to national security concerns.
According to Daniel Dobrentey, Director of the Media Freedom Project at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, technical surveillance is one of the main issues facing independent media in Hungary, as it deters sources from speaking to journalists knowing that there is a possibility they might be surveilled.
Technical investigations of cell phones by Amnesty International shows that at least four independent journalists have been targeted by the Pegasus spyware.
Szabolcs Panyi, an investigative journalist at independent online news site Direkt36 who was among those identified by Amnesty International as having been targeted, told Human Rights Watch:
I lost sources after the Pegasus incident… . It’s harder to work now because people are afraid to talk. This phenomenon has increased now more than before Pegasus. Meeting me comes with its extra risks.
Agnes Urban, researcher at Mertek Monitor, a civil society organization monitoring press freedom in Hungary, stressed the detrimental effects of Pegasus and other spyware on free speech and freedom of information. “Pegasus was a message to sources that it’s dangerous to give information,” Urban said.
Journalists also reported being subjected to physical surveillance with the aim of intimidating and deterring them from working on sensitive stories.
Kiraly, the editor of 444.hu, told Human Rights Watch how he was physically surveilled and threatened in late 2013 in connection with a story he was investigating concerning the Hungarian government’s secret service agency upgrading its voice recognition capacities and automated telecommunications surveillance. Kiraly said that when he was out one night with colleagues, he was approached by a stranger who told him to be careful about who he talked to on the phone. “He [the stranger] then left and I felt shaken up, I knew it was in connection with the story I was working on,” Kiraly said.
Varga, the owner of Central Media Group, told Human Rights Watch that on several occasions between 2015 until end of 2022, he spotted strangers outside his house taking pictures, and others following him on the streets and public places. According to Varga, the alleged surveillance ceased after what he says were politically motivated tax fraud charges brought against him in November 2022.
Pro-government media discredit independent media outlets and journalists, referring to them as traitors, fake news factories, “Soros mercenaries,” and “dollar media”—a term used by pro-government media to discredit independent outlets, accusing them of having a political agenda financed by US liberals.
Tamas Bodoky, editor-in-chief at the independent news site Atlatszo, told Human Rights Watch how the outlet and he personally became targets of a smear campaign in December 2022. It started when the pro-government daily news site, Origo, ran a story alleging Hungarian-born philanthropist George Soros built “dollar media” by linking independent media outlets and journalists to opposition parties, and falsely accusing Atlatszo of being part of a leftist propaganda machine controlled by the opposition. The smear campaign against Atlatszo culminated in January when the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet ran an op-ed by pro-government journalist Gergely Huth who falsely claimed that Atlatszo was endangering the lives of Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries. Bodoky explained:
He [Huth] accused me of taking Judas money, referred to me as “traitor to the nation” and called on secret services to stop me. We wanted to reply to Huth’s op-ed in Magyar Nemzet but the daily said no.
Bodoky said that the following day, pro-government organization Civil Union Forum held a press conference concerning national security, allegedly following an investigation of Atlatszo’s funding. Bodoky explained:
Civil Union Forum [erroneously] concluded that Atlatszo is lying about foreign funding and that we are a money laundering platform, that we are a spy organization embedded from abroad, and called on secret services to investigate us.
In October 2023, pro-government outlet Origo ran a piece entitled “The Soros Dollars are Pouring into Telex,” insinuating that Telex’s news reporting is controlled by George Soros. Also in October 2023, Origo published a video discrediting several independent journalists and outlets, calling them “liars” and “propagandists.”
The false claims of independent media working as political lobbyists on behalf of the opposition is linked to a government investigation of opposition parties receiving foreign funding during the 2022 election campaign.
According to Bodoky, the government has since extended the investigation to include any media outlet that gets financial support from abroad. Prime Minister Orban, in a January 2023 radio interview with state radio broadcaster Kossuth, said that Hungary needs a new law to prevent foreign funds reaching media. In December 2023, the Hungarian parliament passed the government’s “defence of sovereignty” law which allows investigations into what groups and individuals the government describes as “left-wing journalists, pseudo-NGOs and ‘dollar’ politicians” who allegedly receive foreign-funding.
Hungary is party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and as an EU member is also bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. All three treaties protect fundamental rights to freedom of expression and information, privacy, freedom of association, and personal security, all of which are at stake in the attack on media outlined in this report.
International human rights law protects the right to privacy and bars arbitrary or unlawful infringements on the right. Restrictions on privacy are only permissible if they are necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose and provided for in law. Pegasus spyware has been used to illegally or arbitrarily surveil activists or journalists, violating their rights to privacy, undermining free expression and association, and threatening their personal security and lives.
Media freedom is part of the state’s obligations to protect freedom of expression as set out in article 10 of the ECHR, article 19 of the ICCPR. Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, protects freedom of expression and information and explicitly guarantees respect for freedom and pluralism of the media.
The European Court of Human Rights has consistently underscored that freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, is “one of the essential foundations of a democratic society” and that that there can be “no democracy without pluralism” in media. This is further reflected in the inclusion of freedom of expression as one of the fundamental values on which the European Union is founded, in article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.
The European Court has unequivocally stated that governments are under the duty to protect, and if need be, to take positive measures to safeguard and promote media pluralism. Emphasizing the importance of media pluralism, it has condemning situations whereby a powerful political group in a society is permitted to obtain a position of dominance over the audiovisual media and exercise pressure on broadcasters. The Court has observed that with respect to media pluralism, as well a negative duty of non-interference, governments have a positive obligation “to put in place an appropriate legislative and administrative framework to guarantee effective pluralism”.
Freedom of information means that citizens should have access to a variety of information, primarily different opinions and ideas, but also a variety of cultural aspects and expressions. Through its deliberate actions to dismantle media pluralism and its continued clampdown on independent journalists, the Hungarian government is in breach of its obligations on freedom of expression, including under ECHR article 10 and article 11 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights.
The EU Rule of Law Mechanism contains specific reference to media freedom and pluralism, including independence of media regulatory bodies, transparency of media ownership and government interference and frameworks for protection of journalists. The 2018 Audiovisual Media Service Directive contains relevant legal safeguards binding on EU member states, including online content moderation, independence of media regulators and the transparency of media ownership.
To set rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU, the Commission in September 2022 proposed a European Media Freedom Act. The Act is currently under negotiations before the European Parliament and Council.
This report was researched and written by Human Rights Watch. Benjamin Ward, deputy director in the Europe and Central Asia division, edited the report. The report was also reviewed by Judith Sunderland, Europe and Central Asia associate director, Iskra Kirova, Europe and Central Asia advocacy director, Philippe Dam, EU director, Zach Campbell, senior surveillance researcher, Technology and Human Rights, and Arvind Ganesan, Economic Justice and Rights director. Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor, provided legal review. Joe Saunders, deputy program director, provided program review. Elida Vikic, senior coordinator in the Europe and Central Asia division, provided editorial assistance. Travis Carr, publications officer; Fitzroy Hepkins, senior administrative manager, and José Martínez, administrative officer, produced the report.
We would like to thank all those named in the report and those whose names we withheld at their request or for security reasons, for giving of their time and sharing their experiences with us. Without their willingness to speak, this report would not have been possible.
Source link : https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/02/13/i-cant-do-my-job-journalist/systematic-undermining-media-freedom-hungary
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Publish date : 2024-02-13 08:00:00
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