{
  "title": "Search in Hungary, national level",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?country=HU&continent=europe&level=national",
  "filters": {
    "country": "HU",
    "continent": "europe",
    "level": "national"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 7,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "HU",
        "label": "Hungary",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 74,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "label": "Funding and ownership pressure",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "disinformation_labeling",
        "label": "Official labels",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
        "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
        "label": "Insult and defamation laws",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "pressure",
        "label": "Pressure",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "punish",
        "label": "Punish",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 7
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "reversed",
        "label": "Reversed",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "ongoing",
        "label": "Ongoing",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "upheld",
        "label": "Upheld by a court",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknown",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "viktor-orban",
        "label": "Viktor Orban"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "2010s",
        "label": "2010s",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2010",
        "label": "2010",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2018",
        "label": "2018",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2020",
        "label": "2020",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "2023",
        "label": "2023",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 7
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act",
      "title": "Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023",
      "occurred_on": "2023-12-20",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "disinformation_labeling",
      "tactics": [
        "disinformation_labeling",
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "outcome": "reversed",
      "outcome_on": "2026-06-30",
      "outcome_note": "The National Assembly abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office on 2026-06-30, according to CPJ (s055).",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. The law created a Sovereignty Protection Office empowered to investigate organizations, including news outlets, that it determined might be influenced by foreign actors or threaten national sovereignty. A week earlier, ten Hungarian media outlets had said the law \"is capable of severely restricting the freedom of the press.\" After a change of government in 2026, the National Assembly abolished the office on June 30, 2026.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-hungary-panyi-pegasus-spyware",
      "title": "Hungary: investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware",
      "occurred_on": "2021-07-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
      "tactics": [
        "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The finding was published as part of the July 2021 Pegasus Project, a collaborative investigation by Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International's Security Lab into governments' use of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware against journalists and civil society figures worldwide.",
      "outcome": "ongoing",
      "outcome_on": "2021-07-01",
      "outcome_note": "The finding prompted European Union scrutiny of Pegasus use against journalists, but the source reviewed does not report any Hungarian accountability measure.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": "A journalist's phone was covertly infected with spyware capable of reading his communications and locating his sources, rather than a subpoena for records already created.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Amnesty International found forensic traces of Pegasus spyware on the phone of Direkt36 investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, who covers Hungarian national security and diplomacy, as part of the wider Pegasus Project investigation.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-panyi-pegasus-spyware"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license",
      "title": "Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application",
      "occurred_on": "2021-02-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The decision affected one of the last Hungarian broadcasters to carry news and talk programming independent of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.",
      "outcome": "upheld",
      "outcome_on": "2021-09-01",
      "outcome_note": "Hungary's Curia upheld the Media Council's denial of Klubradio's license renewal in September 2021.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national broadcast regulator ended one of the country's last independent stations' terrestrial license over its paperwork, and the country's top court upheld the decision.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Hungary's Media Council ended Klubradio's decades-old terrestrial broadcast license, citing errors in its renewal application, after the station had built a following as one of the country's few remaining independent voices.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired",
      "title": "Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu",
      "occurred_on": "2020-07-24",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2020-07-24",
      "outcome_note": "Dull's dismissal stood and the outlet continued under its changed ownership; the sources reviewed do not report a reversal.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": "An editor was fired and most of a ninety-person newsroom resigned after a government-linked businessman gained influence over the outlet's ownership; United States funding pressure has not removed an editor through an ownership change.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Index.hu, Hungary's most-read independent news site, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull weeks after he warned that a change in ownership threatened its independence. Most of the newsroom resigned within days.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law",
      "title": "Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers",
      "occurred_on": "2020-03-30",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "insult_and_defamation_laws",
      "tactics": [
        "insult_and_defamation_laws"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "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",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "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.",
      "stage": "punish",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "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.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger",
      "title": "Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation",
      "occurred_on": "2018-11-29",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2018-11-29",
      "outcome_note": "The merger was completed and the exemption was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "Owners surrendered 476 outlets into one government-aligned foundation, exempted by decree from antitrust review; United States funding pressure has cut money and licenses but has not required owners to give up outlets.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2010s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA. The government exempted the merger from the antitrust review that would normally apply to a combination of that size.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority",
      "title": "Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage",
      "occurred_on": "2010-12-21",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The incoming Fidesz government's broader effort, after its April 2010 election win, to restructure Hungary's state institutions, including media regulation.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2011-01-01",
      "outcome_note": "The law took effect January 1, 2011, and, after European Union criticism, Hungary amended some provisions in 2011 but kept the media authority's core licensing and fining powers.",
      "stage": "pressure",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2010s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, for coverage it deemed unbalanced or offensive to public morality.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority"
    }
  ],
  "other_results": [],
  "downloads": {
    "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?country=HU&continent=europe&level=national&format=csv",
    "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?country=HU&continent=europe&level=national",
    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?country=HU&continent=europe&level=national"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}