This is the first time that the RSF has recognized a head of government from a European Union (EU) country as an “enemy of press freedom”.
“Since Viktor Orban and his party Fidesz came to power in 2010, they have gradually taken control of the Hungarian media space,” the RSF said in Berlin on Monday.
“Public service broadcasters are centralized in the state-owned media holding company MTVA, which also includes Hungary’s only news agency, MTI,” RSF said.
“The regional press has been wholly owned by Orban-friendly entrepreneurs since the summer of 2017. In the fall of 2018, nearly 500 government-loyal media companies were merged into a holding company to coordinate news coverage,” RSF said.
The list of “enemies of press freedom” includes 37 heads of state and government, who embody the brutal repression of press freedom in a particularly radical way.
The list also includes, for the first time, Brazilian President Jairie Bolsonaru and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who has been accused by the RSF of crimes against humanity in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Hashogi.
Hong Kong Prime Minister Kerry Lama is also a newcomer to the list of “enemies of press freedom”.
RSF has been publishing this list intermittently since 2001.
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