Press censorship is a common occurrence in many parts of the world, but one does not associate a democratic nation in middle of Europe to go this route. Well, Hungary wants to change that.
According to The Raw Story [1],
“Hungary's recently elected right-wing government has introduced a law demanding — under threat of fines and even shut-down — that news sources be “fair and balanced,” to borrow a phrase from a US news network. The move has critics fearing that it could lead to a silencing of critical media outlets.
Under the new Law on Media and the Freedom of Press, national TV channels whose news coverage is found to be “unbalanced or offensive to human dignity or common morals” could be fined the equivalent of almost $1 million,…”
Hungary's move towards a more “fair and balanced” media comes at a time when it is getting ready to assume the European Union's rotating Presidency. [2] It will be interesting to see how the country will balance its new press policies with that of the European Union-which requires member nations to honor press freedom.