Fifteen years of Orbán regime proof that repressing the media without resorting to overt censorship is possible

The most comprehensive document to date on how the Orbán governments of the past fifteen years have repressed the Hungarian independent media has just been published. The joint report prepared by the Rule of Law Lab at New York University School of Law and Mérték Media Monitor provides a detailed description of the sophisticated system of power that

• restricts the operation of independent media through legal, economic, and administrative measures rather than open censorship;
• restricts the opportunities of independent journalism by taking control of the media, i.e., by bringing them under government control through ownership, financing, and regulatory measures;
• while the few remaining independent media outlets survive in the system despite, and not because of it.

In practice, this means that the authorities have not banned or closed down the outlets, but have gradually made their operation more difficult by withholding money, withholding information, burdening it with legal proceedings, and excluding journalists from the public sphere.

Freedom of the press is the worst in Hungary among EU countries

According to the global press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, Hungary fell from 23rd to 68th place among the 180 countries surveyed between 2010 and 2025, making it one of the worst performers among EU member states. In terms of press freedom, Hungary now not only lags behind the frontrunners of the EU, but is even behind a number of non-EU countries, and has continued to fail to meet European media freedom standards despite efforts made by journalists, NGOs and several European institutions to curb this decline.

The Rule of Law Lab at New York University School of Law studies the functioning of the rule of law and authoritarian systems around the world, with the involvement of local experts. The Hungarian section of the current document was prepared with the participation of Mérték Media Monitor and Bea Bodrogi, the expert of the university's Rule of Law Lab and Telex's lawyer, as well as Amrit Singh, director of the Rule of Law Lab at New York University School of Law.

According to Bea Bodrogi, one of the key messages of the report is that over the past fifteen years, the Hungarian government has run the country, including its approach to the media, in a way which gives the appearance of adhering to democratic rules, but this does not mean that it has actually functioned democratically. "On the surface, freedom appears to exist in Hungary: there are independent press outlets, journalists are not being imprisoned, and sometimes, the press has even been able to withstand the attacks of the government.

However, the government has sought to undermine the work of independent journalists using more subtle and sophisticated means.”

The report provides a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the legal and other attacks faced by the independent media in Hungary between 2010 and 2025.

• The legal system as a weapon: Since 2010, the Hungarian parliament has passed several laws that have systematically restricted the freedom of independent media. While the Media Council, established by the new media law of 2010, was nominally an independent supervisory body, in reality it is composed entirely of Fidesz appointees, and the law on the freedom of information and its enforcement have restricted access to data of public interest. Then, in 2023, the Sovereignty Protection Act was adopted, bringing with it the Sovereignty Protection Office, which was tasked with investigating "foreign influence" in the media. Although the Russian-style bill on "transparency in public life," which would have made it extremely difficult for organizations receiving foreign funding to exist, was ultimately withdrawn in May 2025, the government has continued to float the idea of passing it.
• Deliberate obstruction of independent journalists: The government regularly ignores requests from independent journalists and excludes them from public events and press conferences, and opportunities for covering parliamentary proceedings have also been curtailed.
• Discreditation and smear campaigns against journalists: Some journalists have been targeted with smear campaigns, with entire editorial offices being labeled as "foreign agents" and "fake news," journalists being harassed and slandered, and some of them being monitored using illegal methods, such as the Pegasus software being installed on their mobile phones. The latter is not only a matter of data protection, but is also a violation of the fundamental principles of protecting journalistic sources and the freedom of the press.

The situation is even more critical in the run-up to the elections

The authors deliberately timed the release of their analysis, entitled The Repression of Independent Media in Hungary, 2010–2025, and the accompanying recommendations for the period leading up to the parliamentary elections in April 2026. According to the authors, such a period not only puts journalists under greater pressure, but also means that citizens have less access to reliable information about the functioning of public authorities.

Bea Bodrogi said that the document is aimed less at Hungarian experts and more at the Hungarian government of the day and EU decision-makers. She said "the government of the day" because in the event of a change of government, the next administration would have to set its relationship with the media on an entirely new foundation.

Among other things, the report recommends that future Hungarian governments:

• end political control of journalists and the media and refrain from obstructing their access to information of public interest;
• not exclude members of the independent media from government press conferences, public events, the parliament, and other public institutions;
• put an end to smear campaigns and the discrediting of journalists;
• and comply with and implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights on media freedom and pluralism.

There have been numerous condemning rulings against the Hungarian government by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg relating to media freedom, but in most cases these rulings have been ignored. The report therefore – among others – advises EU decision-makers to initiate infringement proceedings in future cases involving violations of EU law relating to media freedom and media pluralism, and to increase direct EU funding for independent media, investigative journalism, and organizations fighting for press freedom in Hungary.

According to the authors, it is particularly important that the European Union not only adopt new legislation, but also that it consistently enforces compliance with such legislation in countries where media freedom is systematically violated.

This was also pointed out by American professor Amrit Singh, who said that the Hungarian government's measures and practices restricting media freedom constitute a violation of Hungary's international obligations. If the Hungarian government remains unwilling to engage in reform, the European Union’s efforts to ensure media freedom and pluralism and, more generally, the rule of law, will assume crucial significance.”

The report also points out that Hungary's case is not an isolated one: it notes that even in a formally democratic system, it is possible to systematically undermine media freedom without resorting to overt censorship.

The entire report is available here.