Joint position paper put forward by NGOs on the Hungarian Media Law and its Application

Plans to launch a new media empire called Central European Press and Media Foundation, KESMA (Hungarian abbreviation) would result in an unprecedented concentration of media outlets in Hungary. The Competition Authority (CA) was prevented from investigating the fusion by a decree of the Government declaring the deal of “national strategic importance in the public interest”. Since the fusion raises several doubts concerning its constitutionality, the HCLU turned to court.

Last fall, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) adopted a new policy to help re-establish an environment for government and civil society collaboration, safeguarding the Open Government Declaration and to mitigate reputational risks to OGP. Today, members of Hungarian civil society, including representatives of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor, as well as Sunlight’s international policy manager, a former employee of K-Monitor, called on the OGP Steering Committee to take action under the new policy and launch a thorough investigation into the situation in Hungary, with a special attention to the deterioration of the space for civil society.

The third issue of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations’ (INCLO) quarterly newsletter, Global Developments in Religious Freedom and Equal Treatment has published. The newsletter highlights recent international developments, including cases and legislation, concerning religious freedom, equal treatment, and the intersection of the two. This edition sheds light on two landmark decisions (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, SAS v. France), as well as on other transnational developments.