The Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch held an online roundtable discussion on media freedom in Hungary on 23 February.
The host was Iskra Kirova , Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia, Human Rights Watch, and the panelists included:
Lydia Gall, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher, Human Rights Watch
Viktória Serdült, Journalist, Hungarian news portal HVG
Zoltan Gyevai, Correspondent, Radio Free Europe
Tom Gibson, EU Representative, Committee to Protect Journalists (chair)
The organisers noted that independent journalists and media outlets are coming under increasing pressure in Hungary. “The Fidesz government has distorted the media market, politicized the media regulator and public service broadcaster, and the majority of private media companies are under the control of pro-government owners. The authorities have made it nearly impossible for independent media and journalists to do their work in holding the government to account and are preventing the public from accessing independent and factual information to make informed decisions.”
