Nemzeti Média- és Hírközlési Hatóság

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Monika Karas, President of NMHH since 2013

The Hungarian media és Hírközlési Hatóság (short NMHH ; Governmental Authority on media and communication ) is the national Hungarian Media and Communications Authority. It was founded by law in August 2010 and took over the functions of the previously separate regulatory authorities "Országos Rádió és Televízió Testület" (ORTT, broadcasting) and "Nemzeti Hírközlési Hatóság" (NHH, telecommunications), and received additional control over the public media (Radio, television and news agency). As a result of the constitutional amendment (the governing party Fidesz has a two-thirds majority in parliament), the NMHH has been given extensive powers to “control” all media available in Hungary since January 1, 2011 . It is now up to the authority to check all media contributions for “political balance” and other content-related characteristics. High fines can be imposed for violations. According to observers from home and abroad, this severely restricts the freedom of the press in Hungary. In December 2011, the Hungarian Constitutional Court declared parts of the control powers to be unconstitutional.

Annamária Szalai († 2013)

Annamária Szalai , the President of the Authority, was sworn in personally by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for a nine-year term, that is, two legislative terms . This is important insofar as the authority can continue to operate in this form even in the event of a change of government in the next elections, as the legal basis for the work of the authority was anchored in the constitution and can only be changed with a two-thirds majority. After Szalai's death, Monika Karas was elected successor.

history

Since August 2010, the NMHH has been in charge of the control of the public media. On December 21, 2010, the Hungarian Parliament passed a new media law, which came into force on January 1, 2011 after being signed by President Pál Schmitt on December 30, 2010. As a result of the law, the NMHH no longer only controls public media offers, as it did before, but all contributions from all providers in radio, television, press and online media as well as foreign media available in Hungary.

The first procedure was initiated by the agency's media council on January 1, 2011 on the basis of the old legal situation and was directed against the radio station Tilos Rádió . The playback of the song "It's on" by Ice-T was criticized . After the station gave its opinion - and in the face of numerous international media reactions - the media council closed the proceedings on January 13th.

On January 4, the authorities initiated proceedings against the private television broadcaster RTL Klub , as its reporting on a brutal fratricide in a southern Hungarian village in October 2010 was allegedly "sensational" and "shocking for young viewers".

Authority's competencies

As of January 1, 2011, the authority was given extensive additional competencies. At the same time, the authority is no longer managed by a board of directors with equal representation (i.e. all parties represented in parliament), but exclusively by persons appointed by the ruling party Fidesz.

Innovations since January 1st, 2011:

  • the public media companies (radio, television and news agency) will be merged and structured more centrally under the supervision of the NMHH.
  • the authority can independently issue ordinances, the right to do so was enshrined in the constitution
  • Elimination of the protection of informants : Since the beginning of 2011, journalists no longer have the right to refuse to testify to their source if this affects “national security”
  • the authority may investigate in editorial offices without restrictions (elimination of editorial secrecy )
  • The authority receives extensive control rights over the media and the content of its reports and can impose heavy fines (up to the equivalent of around 750,000 euros, for online media up to 90,000 euros) if:
    • "Not politically balanced" is reported (this representation is contradicted by the Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi )
    • Media content endangers “national security”
    • the "duty to inform" is violated
  • Media executives can be personally fined. Although these can be challenged in court, they can also be invoiced before the end of the process.

Organization and board

The authority, which by its own account acts “autonomously”, is constitutionally bound and subject to parliamentary control, is headed by a five-person supervisory body. However, all five members of this body were appointed by the ruling party Fidesz. The President of the Authority, Annamária Szalai, was personally appointed by the national conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for a nine-year term, i.e. for more than two legislative terms. Previously, the authority's board of directors had equal representation , i.e. all parties represented in parliament.

controversy

Criticism at home and abroad

The OSCE strongly criticized these laws, which, according to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, are actually known from totalitarian regimes. On December 30, 2010, Gergely Prőhle, former ambassador of Hungary in Germany and currently State Secretary in the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, responded on Deutschlandradio Kultur and accused the international press of leading a misleading discussion about the new media law. He also announced that he would invite Ms. Mijatović to Budapest for an open discussion. Ms. Mijatović came to Budapest on an official visit on January 25, 2011, but at the closing press conference reiterated her criticism and said that she had not been presented with convincing evidence that she had been wrong in her earlier statements.

On December 31, 2010, the CSU's foreign policy spokesman in the European Parliament , Bernd Posselt , warned against rash judgments. In his opinion there are state authorities for media control in a similar form in other countries. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called it “regrettable” that the international criticism contained “nothing concrete”, but “only fears and threats”.

On December 20, around 1,500 people demonstrated on the Budapest Freedom Square against the new law and the restriction of the media on the Facebook page Egymillióan a magyar sajtószabadságért (“One million people for the free press”). and freedom of speech.

On January 3, 2011, the Hungarian daily newspaper Népszabadság printed the sentence “Freedom of the press has been abolished in Hungary” as a protest on its front page in Hungarian and the EU languages. The German daily newspaper (taz) took over the front page out of solidarity.

On January 5, 2011, the Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi contradicted statements that the media law provided for fines for unbalanced reporting: "In this case, no fine can be imposed." The editor of the German-language Budapest newspaper Jan Mainka also defended the law in his articles and criticized the content and tone of some German media views.

Hundreds of Hungarian writers have signed a declaration of protest: The new Hungarian media law will restore censorship, disregard the principle of separation of powers, and oppose by all means the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of freedom. The Hungarian newspaper Népszabadság wants to file a constitutional complaint against the controversial media law, as it unnecessarily and disproportionately restricts the fundamental rights of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Amendment of the law following criticism from the European Commission

The scandal surrounding the Hungarian media law coincided with the start of the Hungarian EU Council Presidency in 2011 . After the European Commission had announced concerns about possible violations of European legal requirements, especially the EU Directive on Audiovisual Media Services , Orbán declared himself ready to reform the law if the Commission objected to it. On January 21, the commission asked the Hungarian government to make various changes. While the composition of the media authority was accepted by the Commission due to the lack of European law, it criticized in particular inadmissible restrictions for media providers from other EU countries. At the beginning of February the Hungarian government presented a new version of the media law. Among other things, the regulations on “balanced reporting” for blog operators were abolished and foreign media companies were exempted from the sanctions imposed by the media authority. The Hungarian Parliament approved the modification in the presence of EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes .

Judgment of the Hungarian Constitutional Court

On December 19, 2011, the Hungarian Constitutional Court declared parts of the new media law to be unconstitutional. It is incompatible with the Basic Law for journalists to disclose their sources and, in certain cases, to pass on information to the media authority controlled by the government. The ruling, on which three of the 15 decisive constitutional judges gave a dissenting vote, has in part immediate effect, in part not until May 31, 2012. As a consequence of the ruling, the Fidesz parliamentary group announced that the disputed regulations would be revised in a legally binding manner.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ European Audiovisual Observatory: "Hungary: A Flood of New Media Laws" , IRIS 8/2010
  2. ↑ Media authority sets an example
  3. ^ Proceedings against broadcasters for rap songs , 20 min, January 1, 2011
  4. ^ Hungarian Media Council backs down from Tilos Rádió , Pester Lloyd, January 13, 2011
  5. ↑ Hungary: Proceedings against German RTL subsidiary (derStandard.at, accessed on January 4, 2011)
  6. ^ Hungary censored, Europe is silent , Zeit-Online, December 22, 2010, accessed on December 22, 2010
  7. ↑ Merkel denounces Hungary's media muzzle ( memento from September 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Stern-Online, December 22, 2010
  8. ↑ Fear of Orbanization , Der Spiegel , No. 52/2010, p. 118
  9. ↑ a b Hamburger Abendblatt: Media muzzle - Freedom of the press endangered: Hungarians protest against media law. December 22, 2010
  10. ↑ National Media and Communications Authority Info: www.nmhh.hu - About Us (English version, accessed on January 1, 2011)
  11. ↑ Criticism of the OSCE
  12. ↑ Welt.de, right- wing national government tightened media control , December 21, 2010
  13. ^ Hungarian State Secretary Pröhle defends controversial media law , dradio.de, accessed on December 30, 2010
  14. ↑ at loggerheads with Hungary Budapest Times, January 25, 2011, accessed February 5, 2011
  15. ↑ a b Hungary's media law remains controversial in the EU ( memento of January 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Financial Times Deutschland, December 31, 2010
  16. ↑ Facebook page Egymillióan a magyar sajtószabadságért
  17. ^ ORF online: Europe-wide criticism of the new media law. December 24, 2010
  18. ↑ taz house blog: In Hungary, the freedom of the press was lifted , January 3, 2011
  19. ↑ Hungary signals willingness to talk
  20. ^ "Open letter on the media law" , January 11, 2011, accessed on January 19, 2011
  21. ↑ http://www.budapester.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8184&Itemid=134
  22. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Michel Frank: It restores censorship. Subtitle: The full extent of the new Hungarian media law, print January 11, 2011, page 15
  23. ^ SZ online: "It restores censorship" , January 11, 2011
  24. ^ Constitutional lawsuit against media law
  25. ^ Wiener Zeitung , January 7, 2011: Changes in the event of a complaint (accessed November 21, 2013).
  26. ↑ Spiegel Online , January 21, 2011: Controversial media law: EU Commission gives Hungary an ultimatum .
  27. ↑ Der Standard : NMHH: EU Commission has no objections to the media authority
  28. ^ Spiegel Online , February 10, 2011: Budapest presents amended media law ; Spiegel Online , February 16, 2011: Hungary changes media law .
  29. ↑ Hungary changes media laws , FAZ, March 9, 2011
  30. ^ The court declares the media law unconstitutional sueddeutsche.de, December 20, 2011
  31. ^ Media law in Hungary permanently defused Wiener Zeitung, December 20, 2011
  32. ↑ Hungarian Media Act is available in English translation