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The Hungarian telecommunications regulator, NMHH, has fined Magyar Telekom around EUR 250.000 for unlawfully launching a new product named ‘Flip Home’ (a triple play service) and failing to make necessary improvements to the product. The regulator said that it had launched an investigation into the product 10 days after its launch on 16 May 2017, and had concluded that Magyar Telekom had failed to comply with the basic principles of transparency, equal treatment, cost orientation, fee control and access. Improvements made to the disputed product on 28 May 2017 had been insufficient, according to...

On 8 November 2016, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered a landmark judgment on the right of access to public documents. It found that the Hungarian authorities’ refusal to provide the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Magyar Helsinki Bizottság (MHB), with information relating to the work of ex officio defence counsels was in breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. The Court noted that the information requested from the police by MHB was necessary for it to complete...

On 2 February 2016 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that a self-regulatory body (Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete, MTE) and an Internet news portal (Index.hu Zrt) were not liable for the offensive comments posted by their readers on their respective websites. Anonymous users of MTE and Index.hu had posted vulgar and offensive online comments criticising the misleading business practices of a real estate website. The European Court found that by holding MTE and Index.hu liable for the comments, the Hungarian courts have violated the right to freedom of expression. The present...

At its 103rd Plenary Session on 19-20 June 2015, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe adopted its Opinion on Hungary’s media legislation, the so-called “media package”. The Commission had been asked to provide such an Opinion by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in January 2015, in particular to identify provisions which pose a danger to the right to freedom of expression (see IRIS 2015-4/2). The 27-page Opinion discusses two particular laws which form part of the “media package”, namely Act CLXXXV of 2010 on Media...

On 15 December 2014, the Hungarian National Assembly adopted a new amendment to the Hungarian Media Act, primarily aimed at the transformation of the institutional framework of the public media services. As a result of this amendment, Duna Médiaszolgáltató Részvénytársaság (Duna Media Service Company limited by Shares) was established as the legal successor of Magyar Televízió (Hungarian Television), Duna Televízió (Duna TV), Magyar Rádió (Hungarian Radio) and Magyar Távirati Iroda (Hungarian News Agency), which all operated as independent shareholding companies. Duna Médiaszolgáltató Részvénytársaság...