Hungary’s law against hate speech

Analysis

The Hungarian parliament has recently approved an amendment to the Hungarian Civil Code and adopted the so-called ‘hate speech law’.

Persons who feel they are the target of discriminatory remarks can take legal measures to defend themselves on the basis of this law. The newspaper notes disapprovingly: „You can’t eliminate hate speech by litigating against it. The fact that the government has adopted such a measure at a time when its popularity has considerably waned gives the impression that it doesn’t want to hear other opinions and is therefore creating the means to silence the discontented. It’s true that many remarks are in bad taste and politically incorrect. But punishing the people who make them won’t achieve anything - it will only violate one of the basic democratic rights: that of freedom of opinion.” (europe.courrierinternational, Magyar Hírlap)

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