The law on scare-mongering is not unconstitutional in Hungary
The law which criminalises scare-mongering during an epidemic applies to anyone who knowingly spreads false information, the Constitutional Court said in a ruling upholding the law.
In late March, parliament passed an amendment to the Penal Code in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic criminalising the spread of false information during an epidemic.
An appeal submitted to the court claimed the law carrying a five-year prison sentence restricted the freedom of speech and was ill-defined, with the risk that it may be applied arbitrarily.
The court on Wednesday noted that the disputed parts of the Penal Code prohibit “communication of knowingly false or distorted facts to the general public” only if the authorities are thereby hindered in their ability to implement protective measures during an emergency.
The ban, the court added, does not apply to critical opinions.
The court said it was necessary and proportionate to put limits on speech if there was an overriding social interest in doing so.
- National assembly: Suspension of reporters’ parliament accreditation lawful in Hungary
- Is it allowed for Hungarian police officers to kneel on someone’s neck?
Source: MTI
1 Comment
Personally, laws that are Democratically passed and in place, that society, know, if they scaremonger, that is illicit in it’s style and content, they run the risk of Legal proceedings being instigated against them.
It is paramount that if we speak on matters that we willingly know may excite create attention and excitement – reaction(s) – that the subject(s) matters, must be FACTORIALLY based.
If you have a problem understanding the meaning of scaremongering or gossip – there effects and results, a brilliant example is found in the Phillip Seymour Hoffman / Meryl Streep film from 2008 titled Doubt.
The explanation of breaking open a feathered pillow case up on a roof releasing the feathers into the atmosphere watching them disperse in all directions without controlled management, just floating drifting there own unchartered course, and the mess they make when they finally land.
Scaremongering / Gossip – speaking with a forked tongue – it is NOW time – from the challenging times we Globally live in, waiting still, for Medical Science to develop a vaccine, that will immunize human beings against this deadly novel coronavirus, that we Spoke and Communicated in a totally a Factorial way.
Stay Well – ALL.