Tech & Rights

1,600 Hungarian Facebook Users Ready to Face Prosecution to Defend Their Freedom of Speech

Criminal prosecution against 1,600 Facebook users will need to be initiated if the Hungarian Prosecutor's Office is to be consistent in implementing decisions. It all erupted when a post by an anonymous user made...

by LibertiesEU
Image: Katie Sayer - Flickr/CC content

Criminal prosecution against 1,600 Facebook users will need to be initiated if the Hungarian Prosecutor's Office is to be consistent in implementing decisions. It all erupted when a post by an anonymous user made corruption allegations against the previous mayor of the city of Siófok. The mayor, Árpád Balázs, decided to sue. In the absence of the writer's identity, the suit instead targeted all users – mainly local opposition politicians and citizens – who shared the post. The case is a good example of the inconsistencies in Hungary's current freedom of speech regulations.

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