Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, heavily reliant on Facebook, fears the same fate as his ally Donald Trump with the digital giants and promises to legislate on the issue before next year’s elections.
The government “is going to submit a law to Parliament this spring,” Justice Minister Judit Varga announced on Tuesday, at the conclusion of an “extraordinary committee” to analyze sanctions against platforms that “limit freedom of expression.”
This initiative, similar to another in Poland, comes after the accounts of the former US president were suspended by Facebook, Twitter and other social networks as a result of the assault on the Capitol.
“Today, anyone can be disconnected from the networks in an arbitrary way,” Varga denounced, “it does not matter if you are a baker, hairdresser, retiree, teacher or preside over a State.”
Although the speech is new, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice, questioned by AFP, assures that they have been “analyzing the matter for about a year”, after having received numerous proofs of the “limitation of messages from users without any notification or explanation” .
Judit Varga accuses social networks of “systematic abuses” and prohibitions “carried out without transparency” for political purposes. According to her, Facebook wants to “reduce the visibility of Christian, conservative and right-wing views.”
In this sense, the ministry cites the works of the “Veritas Project”, a group of militants that claims to have infiltrated Silicon Valley to demonstrate their bias.
– One million followers on Facebook –
Paradoxically, Viktor Orban regularly uses social media to address Hungarians directly. His Facebook page has a million followers, a considerable number in a country of 9.8 million inhabitants, of which 5.4 million have an account.
Varga and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also often announce their decisions on social media.
Accused by the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) of having drastically limited freedom of the media, Viktor Orban uses Facebook to defame the European Union and its political adversaries.
Like Donald Trump, he unfolds a conspiracy narrative made of falsehoods, according to reports from many international organizations, such as the UN and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
And the advertising expenses of his party, Fidesz, far exceed those of the other Hungarian formations.
– “Shot in the foot” –
It seems clear that the digital ban on Donald Trump has scared the Hungarian prime minister, a year after the legislative elections that are announced to be close, Agoston Mraz, of the Nezopont think tank, tells AFP. “Fidesz fears that, without regulation, an incident could occur when the elections approach.”
Above all, because Orban has no other digital tribune.
In Hungary an alternative social network appeared in December, founded by a person close to the government, similar to the Chinese WeChat and the Russian VKontakte. But it is very far from having the reach of the Anglo-Saxon mastodons.
This rival, with a blue and white design reminiscent of Facebook, presents itself as a haven of freedom of expression endowed with minimal restraint. Its promoters have not responded to calls from AFP.
Its creation is in the wake of conservative platforms such as Parler and Gab, in which Internet users who consider themselves “censored” by conventional networks have taken refuge.
Despite the threats, political scientist Patrick Szicherle doubts that Budapest will go as far as Warsaw.
In Poland, where President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also have a strong presence on Facebook, the government is preparing a law to prevent the unilateral closure of accounts.
“It would be like shooting yourself in the foot,” says Patrick Szicherle of the think tank Political Capital.
Rather, this political scientist hopes that Viktor Orban will opt for the “possibility of recourse to justice for the suspended accounts” or for a formula “that would have little effect in practice, but that allows the government to present itself as being confronted with the liberal giants of technology. “
pmu / bg / anb / bds / af / es
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