Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, 6/3/25
Headline: “The Insidious Spread of ‘Foreign Agent’ Laws Continues”
Subhead: “Hungary and other nations are pushing a Russian-style crackdown on the press.”
“. . .Last month, Fidesz, Orbán’s party, introduced a bill, with the innocuous-sounding title ‘On the Transparency of Public Life,’ that essentially aims to legislate his rant. The bill would allow Hungary’s (decidedly less innocuous-sounding) ‘Sovereignty Protection Office’ to recommend the blacklisting of organizations, including news outlets, that receive funding from abroad and are deemed a threat to sovereignty—an incredibly broad designation that, per Politico, includes activities such as ‘influencing public opinion, promoting democratic debate, or challenging state-defined values like Christian culture and traditional family roles.’ . . .”
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