Social media will be sanctioned in Hungary?
The justice minister has called an extraordinary meeting of the Digital Freedom Committee tasked with monitoring online space over what she says are violations of democratic norms by tech giants.
As we said a week ago, Minister Varga said that she shared German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s view that the locking of US President Donald Trump’s user account by Twitter was reason for concern, details HERE.
In an English-language post on Facebook on Monday, Judit Varga said tech firms were violating “all those fundamental democratic legal norms that form the basis of Western-type culture” by secretly restricting the visibility of, or “shadow banning” certain users “for political purposes”.
The minister cited a recently leaked recording of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in which he is heard telling staff members that the company’s policy enforcement actions would go “far beyond” the suspension of US President Donald Trump’s account. She also accused Facebook of limiting “the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions”, adding that she had “personal experience” of such practices.
Varga said
the ministry is contributing to the European Union regulation of global tech companies with the work of the Digital Freedom Committee, indicating the need to take prompt action.
To that affect, she said she will also meet later this week with the head of the Hungarian Competition Authority to discuss possibilities of sanctioning unfair trading practices.
Minister Varga post on Facebook:
“Shadowban” means the act of social media providers secretly, for political purposes, restricting the visibility and access of our user profile without our knowledge about it.
Tech companies thus violate all those fundamental democratic legal norms that form the basis of Western-type culture. We could not only learn about the system-wide practice of shadow banning from a voice recording of the now-leaked Twitter CEO. To reduce their reach, Facebook also limits the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions. I also have personal experience of that.
The Ministry of Justice contributes to the EU regulation of global tech companies with the work of the Digital Freedom Committee. Due to the systematic abuses, however, we may need to step up sooner. That is why I convened an extraordinary meeting of the Digital Freedom Committee (and this week I will also consult with the President of the Hungarian Competition Authority on the possibility of sanctioning unfair commercial practices).
As we wrote few weeks ago, a Hungarian social media site called Hundub was launched, which seeks to provide an alternative shelter to users who, according to the creators of the new portal, are tired of incomprehensible blocking and inconsistent censorship. Although the platform seeks to offer an alternative to and defines itself against Facebook, registrants face a weak copy of Zuckerberg’s creation, details HERE.
Source: MTI