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Hungarians protest internet tax

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27 Oct ’14 - 8:02 am

not sure how I feel about this

BUDAPEST (AFP) - More than 10,000 people marched in Budapest on Sunday to demand the scrapping of a proposed tax on Internet usage that critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orban call his latest anti-democratic measure.

"There will be no Internet tax... we will block it," organiser Balazs Gulyas told the crowd to cheers.

"If the tax is not scrapped within 48 hours, we will be back again," he said.

The crowd held smartphone torches aloft outside the economy ministry in an echo of recent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and held signs with slogans such as "Free Wifi! Free Internet! Free Hungary!"

Announcing the levy last Tuesday, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said the tax -- 150 forints (0.50 euros, $0.61) on each transferred gigabyte of data -- was needed to help shore up the 2015 budget of one of the EU's most indebted nations.

He also said the tax was fair because it was a shift away from phone lines and to the Internet.

Orban has been accused of flirting with authoritarianism, and organisers told AFP they believed the tax was aimed at restricting government critics who mainly use online media.

Others are concerned it will hurt small businesses and make it harder for people, particularly in poor areas, to access information and educational material.

"This is a backward idea, when most countries are making it easier for people to access the Internet," Judit Nagy-Korsa, 55, told AFP.

The tax has also triggered alarm in Brussels. Neelie Kroes, the EU's digital chief, tweeted that it was "a shame for users and a shame for the Hungarian government".

Orban's Fidesz party later proposed capping the monthly payment at 700 forints (2.3 euros, $3) for consumers and 5,000 forints for businesses, but the move has failed to calm anger.

"Orban, get lost!" chanted the crowd as it marched down the main boulevard of the capital after the rally.

The powerful Orban, 51, reelected with a second consecutive two-thirds majority in April, has faced unusual pressure in recent days after the United States issued entry bans on several government officials over suspected corruption.

The top US diplomat in Budapest warned Friday that "negative trends" such as a weakening of the rule of law and intimidation of civil society had "rapidly taken hold" in Hungary.

Among the protestors Sunday, several people held EU and US flags as well as signs reading "Mafia Government".

http://www.france24......ernet-tax/

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31 Oct ’14 - 9:01 am

nice

Hungary has decided to shelve a proposed tax on internet data traffic after mass protests against the plan.

"This tax in its current form cannot be introduced," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

Large-scale protests began on Sunday, when demonstrators hurled old computer parts at the headquarters of Mr Orban's ruling Fidesz party.

The draft law - condemned by the EU - would levy a fee on each gigabyte of internet data transferred.

The protesters objected to the financial burden but also feared the move would restrict free expression and access to information.

The levy was set at 150 forints (£0.40; 0.50 euros; $0.60) per gigabyte of data traffic.

After thousands protested the government decided to cap the tax at 700 forints per month for individuals and 5,000 forints for companies. But that did not placate the crowds.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Budapest writes:

Viktor Orban does not often back down, but he has done so on this occasion for several reasons.

He saw how unpopular the tax was. He managed with one stroke to do something which opposition leaders had tried and failed to do for five years: unify his opponents
He took on the best-organised community in the country - internet users - and lost
The government's communication methods failed again - as they have with almost every major decision since Fidesz came to power
"We are not Communists. We don't go against the will of the people," he said - a sign that growing comparisons between Fidesz and the old Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party are hitting the mark.

What happens next? Mr Orban's decision to cancel the tax deprives his opponents of a valuable rallying cry. The big question for them will be whether they can use the momentum of two big rallies to create new forms of opposition to Fidesz.

They have proven that he can be defeated. Mr Orban has proven that he is more flexible than many analysts give him credit for.

'It should not be done'

Fidesz had said the special tax was needed to balance Hungary's budget in 2015.

Speaking on Kossuth public radio, Mr Orban said that "if the people not only dislike something but also consider it unreasonable then it should not be done...

"The tax code should be modified. This must be withdrawn, and we do not have to deal with this now."

He said a measure seen by the government as a technical issue had become "a fear-inducing vision".

There will be a national consultation on it in January, he said.

A European Commission spokesman, Ryan Heath, said the tax was "bad in principle" because it was a unilateral measure applied to a global phenomenon.

He said it was "part of a pattern... of actions that have limited freedoms or sought to take rents without achieving wider economic or social interest" in Hungary.

The Commission has previously criticised Mr Orban's government for constitutional proposals seen to be cementing the Fidesz party's political dominance.

http://www.bbc.com/n.....e-29846285