Government side accuses Facebook of censorship
October 9th, 2018After the Facebook account of a pro-government journalist was suspended, an MP of the Christian Democrats claimed that Facebook content-screening in Hungary is overseen by an NGO ‘funded by (Hungarian-born US financier and philanthropist) George Soros.’
888 editor Gábor G. Fodor published a meme featuring President Macron of France with two young dark-skinned men, one of whom is not wearing a shirt, juxtaposed with a photo of PM Orbán of Hungary with his grandson in his arms. The headline runs ‘Macron or Orbán? You choose.’ A colleague of G. Fodor’s published the meme on his Facebook site, whereupon his FB account was frozen, as the meme was found to be in contradiction of Facebook rules. MTI, the official Hungarian news agency carries a statement by Christian Democrat MP István Hollik who expresses the fear that political censorship by Facebook will intensify as the European parliamentary elections approach. He claims that Facebook commissioned a Soros-funded NGO to screen FB content in Hungary. Mr Hollik does not mention the organisation by name. He remarked, however, that liberal organisations which often accuse the government of stifling press freedom, take every opportunity to do so themselves.
Tags: censorship, Facebook, Soros