Hungarians Protest New Internet Tax

Hungarians are protesting because the Government has planned to put a tax on internet use.

According to Reuters, thousands of Hungarians took to the streets on Tuesday night to protest a planned tax on data traffic and the broader course of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.

The internet data levy idea was first floated in the 2015 tax code submitted to the Central European country’s parliament last week, triggering objections from internet service providers and users who felt it was anti-democratic.

Al Jazeera reported that the protest, which was organized by a Facebook-based social network and appeared to draw mostly well-heeled professionals, marched through central Budapest, demanding the repeal of the planned tax and the ouster of Orban.

The Orban government denied any anti-democratic agenda, saying it aimed only to get all economic sectors to share the tax burden and was tapping into a trend of telecommunications shifting away from already-taxed telephony and text messages.

The European Commission has criticized the proposed tax.

Ryan Heath, spokesman for outgoing Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes has said the tax doesn’t serve the public interest.

“It’s part of a pattern… of actions which have limited freedoms or sought to take rents without achieving a wider economic or social interest… the tax is economically misguided because it was based on data traffic now growing rapidly around the world.”

According to the Washington Post, the protests are also politically motivated. Orbán is considered pro-Russia, and the protests are read by some to be part of a general rejection of his administration and his Fidesz party, especially what’s seen as its anti-populist tendencies.

It was by far the largest protest since his center-right government took power in 2010 and pursued moves to redefine many walks of life, drawing accusations of creeping authoritarianism, although it was re-elected by a landslide this year.

The Inquisitr reported on an anti-Nazi protest which took place back in 2012.

The government, which announced the proposal last week before any consultations with industry groups or even Fidesz lawmakers, gave several explanations for the measure — it was meant to complement a tax on telephone calls, as people were increasingly using the Internet to make calls; it would take a bite out of the telecommunications companies’ allegedly large profits; and the new revenues would help improve Internet access in rural areas.

Protesters vow to continue their protest until the government withdraws the internet tax.

[Photo via Reuters/Laszlo Balogh]