Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers

Hungary's parliament passed an emergency coronavirus law allowing prison terms of up to five years for spreading information the government deemed false or distorted about the pandemic, and let Prime Minister Viktor Orban rule by decree for an unlimited period.¹

Country

Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180)

Where

Hungary

Level of government

National

Tactic

Insult and defamation laws

Stage

Punish (see the ladder)

Head of government at the time

Viktor Orban

Issue of the day

The law was passed as Hungary, like much of Europe, entered its first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020; the government said it needed emergency powers to respond quickly to the pandemic.

Outcome

Unknown. Hungary's government said it would end Orban's decree powers by June 20, 2020; the false-information provision's later fate was not established.

Era

The 2020s

What happened

On March 30, 2020, Hungary's parliament passed a coronavirus emergency law criminalizing the publication of information the government deemed false or distorted about the pandemic, with penalties of up to five years in prison, and gave Prime Minister Viktor Orban the power to rule by decree for as long as the state of danger lasted, without a fixed end date. Reporters Without Borders said the law could let the government arbitrarily decide which reports were false and use that power against independent newsrooms. The International Press Institute said the law criminalized spreading information deemed to undermine the authorities' pandemic response, with fines and up to five years in prison. Under European pressure, Hungary's government said in late May 2020 it would ask parliament to end the decree powers by June 20, 2020, while the underlying criminal provision on false pandemic information remained on the books in a narrower form.¹²³

What reason was given

The government said the emergency powers and the criminal penalty for false pandemic information were necessary to respond quickly and combat what it called disinformation about the coronavirus.¹²³

What changed for reporting

Hungarian outlets faced the prospect of prison sentences for coronavirus reporting the government might later deem false or distorted, at the same time the government could rule by decree without a parliamentary check.²

Timeline

Who acted

Sources

• Orban's law paves way for 'information police state' in HungaryReporters Without Borders, 2020-04-01, reporting. Source record
• Press freedom threatened as Hungary criminalizes coronavirus 'fake news' and hands Orban sweeping powersInternational Press Institute, 2020-03-31, reporting. Source record
• Hungary govt says PM's power to rule by decree to end on June 20Al Jazeera, 2020-05-26, reporting. Source record