Search results : 149

In the case Szurovecz v. Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that a refusal to grant a journalist access to a reception centre for asylum seekers in Hungary violated his right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR emphasised that newsgathering, including first-hand observation by a journalist reporting on a matter of significant public interest, was an essential part of journalistic research and press freedom. In 2015, the Hungarian journalist Illes Szurovecz, working for the Internet newsportal abcug.hu,...

On 4 December 2018 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued, unanimously, another landmark judgment on freedom of expression in the digital world (see also IRIS 2015-7/1, IRIS 2016-2/1, IRIS 2016-3/2, IRIS 2018-8/1 IRIS 2018-10/1). In the case of Magyar Jeti Zrt v. Hungary the ECtHR made clear that automatically holding media companies liable for defamatory content hyperlinked in their reports violates the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In its judgment the ECtHR emphasised that the very purpose of hyperlinks was to allow...

On 27 December 2017, the Hungarian media regulator, Nemzeti Média- és Hírközlési Hatóság (NMHH), imposed a fine of HUF 121 million (approx. EUR 391 000) on TV channel UPC Direct for a serious infringement. It stated that the fine exceeded the financial advantage gained by the broadcaster from the infringement. The fine was imposed because, two years ago, UPC Direct had offered so-called triple-play services, that is to say, a bundled package of telephone, television and Internet, in the Hungarian city of Cegléd without informing the regulatory body. The regulator did not register the service until...

On 23 January 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Faludy-Kovács v. Hungary, concerning media coverage of a non-political public figure who had “actively sought the limelight”, and the extent of her right to reputation. The applicant in the case was the widow of the well-known Hungarian poet, György Faludy. In 2008, the Helyi Téma newspaper published a front-page article, with a photograph of the applicant and her late husband, with the headline “Trampling on the memory of Faludy. The widow does anything for the limelight”. The article concerned...

On 23 January 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt v. Hungary, concerning a mobile application (“app”) which allowed voters to anonymously share photographs of their ballot papers. Notably, the Court held that a fine imposed on a political party for distributing the app had violated the party’s right to freedom of expression. The applicant in the case was the Hungarian political party Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt. Three days before Hungary’s 2016 referendum on the EU’s migrant relocation plan, the applicant made the mobile...