Penalty: Hungary’s Orban shelves Internet tax

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s prime minister shelved plans to introduce an Internet tax that had sparked major demonstrations and further concerns about civil liberties in the EU member state. The new levy on online data transfers “cannot be introduced in its current form”, the right-wing Viktor Orban, 51, said in a morning radio interview. Orban also said that a “national consultation” on the Internet and taxes would start in January. The Economy Ministry Friday evening – just as a third demonstration in a week was about to start – initiated the withdrawal of the proposed levy, it said in a statement. The proposed Internet tax was seen by Orban critics as the latest step to silence dissent, particularly since Hungarians have to go mostly online to find news that doesn’t toe the government line. The European Union has criticised the proposed legislation, with a spokesman for digital commissioner Neelie Kroes calling it a “particularly bad idea.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2014.

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