We had dreaded this moment for months. What the Hungarian government has just done exceeds our worst fears.
In the night of May 13, Fidesz — Viktor Orbán's ultraconservative party, in power since 2010 — introduced legislation allowing for surveillance of media outlets and NGOs receiving "foreign funding". This includes donations from citizens living outside Hungary, such as European subsidies. The pretext? Protecting national sovereignty. The reality? Suffocating critical voices, one year ahead of Hungarian legislative elections.
The text provides for massive sanctions with no possible recourse: fines up to 25 times the amounts received, freezing of bank accounts, withdrawal of tax benefits, or even administrative closure. The authorities' message is crystal clear: "Keep quiet. Or disappear."
For us, members of the Sphera network, this threat is direct. Our partner 444.hu, one of the few independent media outlets still standing in Hungary, is being targeted as a priority. This media outlet is recognized for its rigorous investigations, local focus, and independence.
It was he who revealed, last year, one of the most serious recent political scandals: the pardon granted by the authorities to a Fidesz executive involved in protecting a child sex offender. Since then, 444 has faced mounting pressure: false reports about its European partnerships, threats to its finances, imminent banking blockade. A new brutal, targeted, unjustifiable attack.
What's at stake here goes beyond Hungary. It's a full-scale test for the entire continent.
The Sphera network brings together independent and committed media outlets: StreetPress (France), VDNews (Italy), El Salto (Spain), Popaganda (Greece), 444 (Hungary), Krytyka Polityczna (Poland). Newsrooms rooted in their territories, driven by journalists who investigate, decode and make sense of Europe's social and political complexity. Essential checks on power. Taking them down means undermining democracy itself.
Everywhere, independent newsrooms face offensives — economic, legal, political — aimed at restricting their ability to inform. This is no longer about sounding the alarm. We must resist.
The media, European institutions, philanthropic actors and citizens must stand in resistance. Out of solidarity, vigilance, and financial and political support. To defend what still binds us together. To save what Europe is founded on: free, independent and pluralistic access to information.
Today, it's 444, and with it, Hungarian independent media. Tomorrow, who? Reporting freely has become an act of resistance today, in Hungary and throughout Europe.
Take care of yourself and your media.
— Francesca Festa, co-founder of the Sphera network and Development Director at Médianes.
Join us in defending freedom and media independence in Hungary and Europe, by signing our petition.
To go further
- Want to learn more about the situation in Hungary and the threat to independent journalism in the country? Read the 444 article on the subject.
- Support the work of our partner 444, now under threat.
- To follow and support the network's work, visit the Sphera website.
- To learn more about Médianes and our mission with Sphera, visit our About page.
