BUDAPEST -- Thousands of Hungarians gathered in Budapest on October 5 to protest against what they called the “propaganda factory” run by authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s state television operation and to demand a free media in the Central European nation.
Peter Magyar, the leader of the center-right Tisza opposition party, had called for protesters to gather at the headquarters of state broadcaster MTVA in the Hungarian capital.
Demonstrators demanded the dismantling of the "propaganda factory" and the restoration of genuine public media, along with the immediate firing of MTVA chief Daniel Papp, among other actions.
"We have had enough of the malice, the lies, the propaganda, our patience has run out," Magyar told the crowd.
"The public service media in Hungary today is an international scandal. We have had enough," the 43-year-old opposition leader said.
Independent parliamentary deputy Akos Hadhazy said the MTVA headquarters is the strongest bastion of power in the country. He called for news directors who falsify news to resign and for government propaganda to be prohibited by law.
SEE ALSO: Wider Europe Briefing: Budapest Continues To Rattle BrusselsOrban's cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his refusal to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, as well as his attacks on the rule of law and accusations of corruption, have turned Hungary into the European Union's black sheep.
Since taking power in 2010, the increasingly authoritarian prime minister has clamped down on civil rights and taken much of the media under his control.
Over the past months, Magyar has gone from being the unknown husband of the former justice minister to becoming the great new hope for Hungary's opposition. He is also possibly the most dangerous challenger that Orban has faced since taking power.
Human Rights Watch has said that media freedom has “been under attack in Hungary” since Orban took the reins in the country.
“The Hungarian government’s interference with media freedom and pluralism, part of its systematic attack on the rule of law, obstructs the work of independent journalists in holding the authorities to account and prevents the public from accessing information."