Hungary’s Justice Minister says her Facebook profile is hidden from the network. After Donald Trump was even banned, she announced the consequences.
Right-wing conservative Hungary wants to take action against online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter because of their user guidelines. “Nowadays anyone can be excluded from the online space without any official, transparent, correct procedure,” wrote Justice Minister Judit Varga on her Facebook page on Tuesday. “Bakers, hairdressers, pensioners, teachers, small and large entrepreneurs as well as state dignitaries can be banned .” For this reason, she will be submitting a draft law to regulate the activities of the tech giants in Hungary in the spring.
Minister raises allegations against Facebook
In the previous week, Varga had claimed that Facebook “secretly and for political reasons” had made their profile visible to fewer users. A spokesman for the company denied this to the Hungarian portal “hvg.hu”.
In Hungary, the next parliamentary election is due in spring 2022. Prime Minister Viktor Orbรกn, who has been in power since 2010, has largely brought the conventional media under his control. At the same time, its popularity among younger voters is significantly lower than the average. According to observers, the Orbรกn government is therefore trying to gain more control over social media.