Digital activism and Hungarian media reform: The case of Milla

Abstract

This article examines the rise of the Internet-based opposition group, One Million for the Freedom of the Press in Hungary (or Milla for short), and considers its impact as a form of digital activism in Hungarian political culture. Milla was founded in December 2010 as a Facebook group in response to the newly elected Fidesz government and its fundamental revision of the Hungarian constitution and, in particular, its media laws. Milla is a civil society group, based in Budapest, who saw the Fidesz government as a threat to the democratic freedoms set out in the post-communist settlement in Hungary. It emerged at a time when the mainstream Hungarian opposition parties were in disarray, and it took on the role of challenging the legitimacy of Fidesz actions. Milla is an important example of the idea of digital activism and virtual solidarity, and its experiences serve to illustrate many of the strengths and weaknesses of these notions. The article sets out the ways in which Milla has sought to generate support for itself and opposition to the government, how it has organized its activities and ultimately the specific problems that it faces in Hungarian civil society.

Content and framing in radio news bulletins in urban and rural Hungary

“…The civil sector is another target for the government (Mikecz and Szabó, 2015; Wilkin et al, 2015) (Figure 8). Positive news about the civil sector was only found in community stations, where criticism was also present.…”

“…Fidesz, a right-wing populist political party transformed the broadcast radio landscape, along with other types of the press, since 2010 when it came to power for the second time. This change is the result of new media law, the introduction of new regulatory practice in licencing and with significant changes in station ownerships (Hargitai et al, 2012; Polyák, 2019; Wilkin et al, 2015) despite formal regulatory independence (Mutu, 2018). This study was motivated by the 2018 general election returns where Fidesz achieved a landslide victory in the entire countryside while the opposition won most Budapest districts (Supplemental Figure 1).…”

‘Free country, free internet’: the symbolic power of technology in the Hungarian internet tax protests

“…'student network'), sponsored demonstrations against the Orbán government. While both criticized the Hungarian political system, Milla mobilized for press freedom (Wilkin et al, 2015) and HaHa protested austerity cuts to public university funding (Zontea, 2015). Milla and HaHa were part of the civil society-based, leftist-liberal opposition that is critical of the Fidesz government, but also of the opposition parties, notably the socialist MSZP.…”

“…The quotes above seem an application to poorer areas within Hungary of what Burrell (2012) described as the championing of 'universal connectivity as an imperative for the progress of developing countries' (p. 133). While the internet tax spurred some protests in the countryside, too, the political divide between the city and the countryside has been a long-standing problem for civil society (see Wilkin et al, 2015).…”

Political Agency at the Digital Crossroads?

“…Digital media can be seen as not only enabling but also amplifying political agency by facilitating networking among individuals, social movements, alternative media, and nongovernmental organisations. Networked campaigns of the kind have the potential of influencing public debate, setting agendas and ultimately contributing to policy changes (Benkler, Roberts, Faris, SolowNiederman, & Etling, 2015;Wilkin, Dencik, & Bognár, 2015). Such campaigns, however, note the critics, tell us little about how to 'sustain political agency in time' (Couldry, 2012, p. 116) but rather draw attention to isolated acts of disruption.…”