Another fascist authoritarian making moves:

Proposed Hungarian laws could imprison journalists covering coronavirus response

Hungarian lawmakers should not pass amendments to the country’s criminal code that threaten journalists with prison sentences for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Hungarian National Assembly is scheduled to vote on March 31 on a set of amendments to the country’s penal code that would indefinitely extend the current state of emergency in place in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and which would impose prison sentences on those deemed to be spreading false information about the pandemic, according to news reports and the amendments, which CPJ reviewed. Hungary declared a state of emergency, cancelling most public events and restricting entry in the country, on March 11, according to reports.

The amendments include prison sentences of up to three years for those convicted of spreading falsehoods about the virus that are “alarming or agitating [to] a large group of people,” and would impose prison terms of up to five years for those convicted of spreading a falsehood or “distorted truth” that has negative repercussions for public health.

Government officials and pro-government media outlets have accused independent media organizations of spreading false information when they have questioned the government’s approach to handling the coronavirus crisis, according to news reports.

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