An Assessment of the Consistency of Hungary's Media Laws with ...

20 • Hungarian Media Laws in Europe
1/Media authority: independence
criticism to which the Hungarian Government is responding—that “appointed members of the
[Hungarian] Media Council were chosen among allies of the incumbent government”—as there
is no indication that members of the Dutch Media Authority have any affiliation with the ruling
party.
Finally, in evaluating the salience of the Dutch example to the Hungarian Government’s claims,
one should keep in mind the scope of authority of the respective regulatory bodies. While any level
of political interference over media authority bodies is a threat to press freedom, this becomes
increasingly problematic in accordance with the particular media authority’s regulatory scope and
powers. The regulatory scope of the Dutch Media Authority is extensive, but from this author’s
understanding, it is substantially more limited than the Hungarian Media Authority’s and Media
Council’s. In this sense, the use of the Dutch example may not serve as an entirely adequate
comparison.
Example cited by Hungarian Government: SwEDEN
“In Sweden, the government appoints the Authority (Radio- och TV Verket) and the
Broadcasting Commission, as well as the members of the body overseeing communications –
all three organisations are under government control.” 118
Expert assessment Henrik örnebring, PhD, University of Oxford
It is not entirely clear which three bodies this statement is referring to. By the “Authority,” this
likely means the Radio and Television Authority (Myndigheten för Radio och TV) 119 which replaced
the Radio and TV Bureau (Radio- och TV-verket) in August 2010. 120 The “body overseeing
communication” most probably refers to the Swedish Broadcasting Commission, a separate
body within the Radio and Television Authority that oversees content-related complaints against
broadcasters. 121 It is accurate to say that for both the Radio and Television Authority and the
Swedish Broadcasting Commission, the cabinet of ministers jointly appoint members to both
bodies—although it is not accurate to claim that these bodies “under government control.”
Despite being appointed by the Government, both of the Radio and Television Authority and
Swedish Broadcasting Commission have a good deal of de facto independence and operate free
from political influence. In the case of the Swedish Broadcasting Commission in particular, the
118 “Reply to the criticisms expressed by the international media against the Media Act,” Ministry Of Public
Administration And Justice, January 3, 2011, available at: http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-publicadministration-and-justice/news/reply-to-the-criticism-of-the-international-media.
119 See the Radio and Television Authority (Myndigheten för Radio och TV ) website available at: http://www.radioochtv.
se/.
120 The Radio and Television Authority was created by the Radio and Television Act. SFS No. 2010:696, available in
Swedish at: http://www.radioochtv.se/Documents/Styrdokument/Radio%20and%20Television%20Act.pdf; see also “The
New Swedish Authority for Radio and TV,” Michael Plogell and Erik Ullberg,” IRIS 2010-8:1/45, available at: http://merlin.
obs.coe.int/iris/2010/8/article45.en.html.
121 The Swedish Broadcasting Commission (Granskningsnämnden ) was previously a separate entity, but in August 2010
was brought under the Radio and Television Authority, using the same name. The Swedish Broadcasting Commission still
has a separate Board and makes its decisions independently of the Board of the Radio and Television Authority. The new
Radio and Television Act (SFS No. 2010:696), Chapter 16(2) also establishes that the Broadcasting Commission has a
separate mandate and remit; see Swedish Broadcasting Commission available at: http://www.radioochtv.se/Om-myndigheten/
Organisation/Granskningsnamnden-for-radio-och-tv/, and also the Radio and Television Act. SFS No. 2010:696, available in
Swedish at: http://www.radioochtv.se/Documents/Styrdokument/Radio%20and%20Television%20Act.pdf.