Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga today raised the issue of the possibility of sanctions against owners of social networks for “systematic violations” of freedom of speech.
She plans to meet with a Hungarian competition monitor this week to discuss possible penalties for unfair business practices and to convene a meeting of the country’s digital freedom committee, the minister said.
Hungarian politicians are not happy with attempts by social media, including Facebook, to limit the range of views presented on their platforms.
According to Reuters, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has turned Hungary’s state-owned media into an obedient mouthpiece, and his supporters control much of the private media, allowing them to dominate the information space.
But the right-wing prime minister will face the greatest challenge to his ten-year rule in parliamentary elections next year, as the opposition, according to opinion polls, is able to fight him on an equal footing.
Judit Varga believes that social networking services tacitly limit the visibility and accessibility of some users’ profiles for political purposes. This is done without the user’s knowledge. The minister personally faced such a restriction.
Varga has nearly 120,000 Facebook followers and Orban has over 1 million, which is more than 10% of Hungary’s population. The prime minister often uses Facebook to announce government decisions on COVID-19 or economic policy.
Previously, the Polish leadership has spoken about possible measures against large technology companies, arguing that large technology companies have a dangerously high level of control over public debate, censoring opinions that contradict their own liberal worldview.
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