Public radio station fined after caller threatened Tisza Party with a hand grenade

"I'd gladly go, but I don't have a hand grenade for them", a caller said on a Kossuth Rádió programme broadcast last July. The National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) has now fined the channel of the public media service 100,000 forints (around 240 euros) for airing content that is suitable for inciting hatred, according to a statement by the NMHH.

"All one sees on the Internet is the opinion of these people. All I can tell you is that every day on Facebook one receives a 'do you know this person' message from 15 or 20 unknown people, saying 'come, join the Tisza Party'. I'd gladly go, but I don't have a hand grenade for them," the caller said. He went on to argue that people should be made aware of who George Soros is, "and they should also be told about all the things Ursula von der Leyen has on her record".

Presenter Zsolt Juhász had no problem with the caller threatening to use a hand grenade, commenting only that "we don't have a say in the German and French press reporting this, but thankfully, we are allowed to say this in Hungary, which, as we have seen, isn't exactly the case in Germany". This is where the segment ended.

According to the NMHH, the programme violated the legal provision prohibiting the publication of media content that could incite hatred, by including a statement from a listener inciting violence against members of a political party or persons associated with the party, and by this not being countered by the media service provider. According to the authority, the publication of media content suitable for inciting hatred was damaging to the interests of the democratic society, which is why Kossuth Rádió was also ordered to publish a notice regarding the violation.

The Tisza Party also issued a statement on the case back in July, saying that "what makes the event particularly troubling is that the presenter Zsolt Juhász did not react to the threatening statement in any way. He did not interrupt the caller and did not distance himself from the threats of using physical violence". In their view, this was another example of the potential consequences of the government's "hate-inciting propaganda".