

10000+ protesters urge Hungarian PM Orban to scrap Internet tax - mazsa
http://www.france24.com/en/20141026-hungarian-protesters-urge-pm-orban-scrap-internet-tax/

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mazsa
Press Release from Százezren az internetadó ellen - 100000 against the
Internet tax
[https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado](https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado)

GLOBAL CALL FOR ACTION: Hungarian Government Attacks On Internet Freedom
‪#‎NoNetTax‬ In its latest and most aggressive crackdown on our fundamental
democratic rights and freedoms, the Hungarian Government has introduced a new
measure to tax use of the internet--one of the last remaining platforms for
independent media, information and communications in Hungary. The move is part
of the Orban government's increasingly repressive efforts to control and
punish independent media and civil society watchdog groups through both legal
and economic means. It follows a wave of alarming anti-democratic measures by
Orban that is pushing Hungary even further adrift from Europe. These include a
recent advertising tax on media companies aimed at punishing critical outlets
and a series of police raids and investigations by Hungarian tax authorities
into freedom of expression NGOs that serve an essential role in promoting
democratic discourse and debate. Orban's new tax on internet is direct attack
on our freedom of expression rights and our right to access information--and
risks disconnecting Hungary with global information and communication
channels. The measure would impede equal access to the internet--deepening the
digital divide between Hungary's lower economic groups--and limiting internet
access for cash-poor schools and universities. It would also cripple Hungarian
small businesses and their right to compete EU's the single common digital
market. As citizens of the European and global community, we defend our
fundamental right to freedom of expression and information, as guaranteed to
all citizens under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights,
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the EU Charter of
Fundamental Human Rights. We oppose the Hungarian Government's attempt to
strip us of these fundamental rights, which is in violation of the set of
international treaties and obligations that Hungary is legally bound to
uphold. We urge members of the global human rights and internet community to
join us in protesting the Hungarian Government's proposed tax on the internet
and to defend internet freedom and democracy--in Hungary and around the world.

Here is how you can help: Like our FACEBOOK Page:
[https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado](https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado)
Use hashtag #NoNetTax and follow us at @NoNetTax_HU For EU citizens pressure
your MP and MEP For US citizens call your Senator, etc; and ask the State
dept. to step up activity Point of contact for media Email:
no.netado@gmail.com Web:
[https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado/info](https://www.facebook.com/Ne.legyen.Internetado/info)
Twitter: @NoNetTax_HU

Additional Background and Information Hungary’s government to introduce an
unprecedented internet tax: Hungary’s government is planning to cut off the
population from the Internet to further it’s grip on the media landscape via
an aggressive idiosyncratic data volume based Internet tax A charge of 150
HUF/GB (ca. 0.50 EUR, 0.60 USD) will be levied by the government. Early
estimates place the total burden of the Internet tax above 200Bn HUF (65M EUR,
83M USD) annually. The population will not be able to use the Internet to
access non-government controlled media, and be thus obstructed from the last
remaining independent sources of information. The tax undermines technological
development and will create a major hurdle for businesses to operate. In less
than 48 hours 200K Facebook users signed up to the to the protest page and 30K
citizens Rsvp-ing to the demonstration to be held in front of the ministry of
finance, at Nador sq on Sunday, 6pm CET.

Mr. Orban’s government wants to distract the population from the rampant
corruption, failing policies, and series of international scandals by creating
an outrageous tax on Internet usage. Besides diverting attention, the Orban
regime’s objective is to extend its control over the media landscape in
Hungary. Having enacted a highly restrictive media law, fostered an atmosphere
of self-censorship among journalist, created murky media ownership structure
among other means of media control; they are now switching off the Internet.
Activist and protest organizer Balazs Gulyas says: “The tax is really scary,
it throws us back 30 years. I think a lot of businesses will have to move”. Mr
Orban’s regime says the internet tax is to designed to increase fairness, as
people increasingly use online services for telephony and text messaging; the
tax the government says is to promote fairness will in fact have a chilling
effect on access to information online and further cut off the public from
free and impartial information, in the latest example of a tightening
political and media climate in Hungary. In a totally new twist on preventing
access, fiscal means are used over the technical approach used in Iran or
China. His aim is to control information flows to Hungarians - to block access
to global communications. This is the next logical step for Mr Orban, having
dismantled the cornerstones of a democratic, pluralistic society step by step
over the last 5 years. His declared aim is to move Hungary away from the
family of democratic, liberal societies and make it look like Putin’s Russia.
Access to information and communication is a keynote of open and democratic
societies; the attempt to created closed systems are the soviet-style
authoritarian counterparts. We invite members of the global human rights and
internet freedom community to join us in protesting the Hungarian government’s
latest and most aggressive moves to crack down on our fundamental democratic
rights.

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sziv
Hi mazsa, was this press release taken from the facebook page? If not where
from? s.ziv[at]newsweek[dot]com

