Introduction
This blog examines how media capture under Hungary’s illiberal governance model was not only a constitutional and legal development, but also a process of selective economic regulation and market manipulation. Over the past sixteen years, regulatory, economic, and legal instruments were systematically used to restructure media markets, concentrate ownership, distort competition, and create political-economic dependencies that reinforced governmental control over public discourse.
As Hungary enters a new democratic transition, the reconstruction of the media system cannot be limited to restoring constitutional guarantees and institutional independence alone. The market dimension of media must be fundamentally rethought and rebuilt in order to create a healthy media ecosystem based on pluralism, competitive neutrality, transparent ownership structures, and independent authorities. In this context, the blog explores the role of emerging EU instruments, in particular the European Media Freedom Act.
A textbook case of media capture
Over the past sixteen years, Hungary became one of the clearest examples of “illiberal democracy”, characterised by authoritarian political control over democratic institutions. Orbán’s illiberal governance was fundamentally built and sustained by a sophisticated system of media capture, where the state systematically seized control of the media ecosystem to eliminate criticism and enforce a pro-government narrative. By transforming public media into government propaganda, systematically dismantling media independence and concentrating media ownership in the hands of politically connected actors, the Fidesz government created a “media echo chamber” that undermined democratic checks and balances. Orbán, often described as a “predator of press freedom,” used a wide range of regulatory, economic, and legal measures to eliminate media pluralism and independence. This approach of “autocratic legalism” used legal and economic tools of market manipulation to create a heavily consolidated, government-friendly media landscape that maintained a thin facade of democratic procedure. By 2026, the government, through politically connected allies and state-controlled entities, was estimated to influence or control roughly 80% of the Hungarian media market.
EU media freedom enemy from within
With the adoption of the 2010 media law, and the gradual construction of a highly concentrated and politically aligned media landscape over the following years, Hungary posed a significant challenge to the European Union’s ability to safeguard media pluralism, democratic values, and the rule of law within a Member State. While the EU Commission has used various legal tools, for example the AVDMS to challenge specific media freedom related questions in Hungary, a key and comprehensive legislation, the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) entered into force on 7 May 2024, with its main, substantive provisions applying from 8 August 2025. EMFA establishes a common framework within the EU’s internal market to protect media freedom, independence, and pluralism, targeting political interference, surveillance, and market fragmentation. Most importantly for the Hungarian context, EMFA contains rules for protection of journalists, the independence of the media authority, the assessment of media concentrations, and allocation of state advertising.
Hungary was the only EU member state to vote against the adoption of the EMFA in the Council, and in July 2024, the Hungarian government challenged the EMFA before the European Court of Justice (CJEU), arguing against its legal basis and seeking to have many provisions of the regulation annulled. At the same time, Hungary failed to comply with the EMFA, and therefore, in December, 2025, the European Commission has initiated an infringement procedure against the country.
Rebuilding media pluralism through re-regulating media markets
Hungary is currently undergoing a significant political transition with crucial legal, and economic changes to restore the rule of law domestically, and re-engage with the European Union. The new government aims to address systemic issues left by an era characterised by illiberal governance, democratic backsliding, and the systematic weakening of rule of law institutions.
Such transition requires a comprehensive reform of the Hungarian media system to bring it into full alignment with rule of law principles and EU standards. Reforms must engage in systemic review of all core elements of the media landscape, and require work at the intersection of constitutional law, competition law, public procurement, digital regulation, consumer protection, data protection, as well as coordinated legislative, institutional, financial strategies and market oversight changes. The legal changes must also ensure full alignment with EU law and digital regulation, in particular EMFA, the Digital Services Act, the AI Regulation, the Directive on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (anti-SLAPP Directive), the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), and the Regulation on Transparency and Targeted Political Advertising.
Clearly, restoring media freedom and pluralism is a constitutional challenge that requires rebuilding the independent democratic institutions central to liberal democracy and the rule of law. However, it also demands sector-specific regulation and robust competition law enforcement. While restoring the independence of public service media, strengthening the autonomy and effectiveness of the media authority, and protecting journalists remain essential, restructuring the economic foundations of the media system itself is equally indispensable.
Among many other challenges, the new government faces a highly concentrated media market and ownership structure due to hostile takeovers by government-aligned private parties and bypassing of merger control rules, and due to the strategic and political allocation of state advertising resources to media outlets who reinforced pro-government narratives. These mechanisms created profound structural dependencies between political power and economic ownership, undermining both competition and democratic public discourse.
Preventing media concentration
Preventing excessive media concentration, disentangling political-economic dependencies, creating transparency of ownership, and remedying distortions of media markets must be among the priorities of the new government’s media policy.
In order to prevent future market distortions through the bypassing of competition and merger control, the new government should limit the use of “national strategic interest” exemptions under the Hungarian Competition Act, ensure full transparency of media ownership, and guarantee competitive neutrality in the allocation of state advertising. These measures are also consistent with Hungary’s obligations under the EMFA.
In line with Article 22 EMFA, media market assessments should take into account not only economic concentration, but also risks to media pluralism, editorial independence, and opinion-forming power. Full transparency of media ownership is equally necessary to expose political-economic dependencies and hidden control structures. In this regard, Article 6(1) EMFA requires media service providers to make publicly available up-to-date information concerning their ownership structure.
State advertising
The selective allocation of state advertising deeply distorted Hungarian media markets, consolidated political and economic power, and contributed to the financial weakening of independent media. The use of state advertising as a potential tool of political influence must be addressed, by ensuring competitive neutrality and transparent allocation criteria to prevent public resources from distorting media markets or financing politically aligned narratives.
Article 25 EMFA requires that public advertising funds be allocated solely on the basis of objective, proportionate, transparent, and non-discriminatory criteria. Public advertising may only be commissioned for genuine public interest purposes through open and verifiable procedures, without political discrimination.
The implementation of this provision is is particularly relevant in the Hungarian context. Reform must therefore establish clear rules governing the allocation of government advertising to media outlets and ensure fair and transparent distribution of advertising expenditures by both the state and state-owned companies. This also requires a comprehensive review of public procurement practices and of the institutional framework governing state communication, including the role and operation of the National Communications Office. Although state aid control primarily falls within the competence of the European Commission, the Hungarian competition and media authorities can contribute by identifying market distortions, monitoring state advertising practices, collecting and publishing relevant data, and developing transparent allocation criteria and policy recommendations.
The European Commission has received several state aid complaints concerning the allocation of state advertising and the role of the Hungarian News Agency. These cases raise concerns about market distortions resulting from selective, non-market-based public funding and the free and mandatory distribution of MTI content to media service providers. Under Article 107 TFEU, unlawful state aid may be subject to recovery, and the Commission may also initiate investigations ex officio where there is suspicion of illegal aid. The new Hungarian government could cooperate with the Commission in reviewing past state aid practices in order to restore compliance with EU law and correct past market distortions.
Reclaiming digital governance
Hungary’s illiberal governance has increasingly extended into the digital sphere. Rather than resisting EU digital regulation, the government used sophisticated digital technology to entrench authoritarian control. It strategically appropriated elements of the EU’s digital sovereignty and platform regulation agenda to reinforce political control, media capture, and pro-government narrative dominance. Through digital disinformation, coordinated media ecosystems, and online echo chambers, critical journalism and liberal democratic values have increasingly been undermined, while the appearance of electoral democracy has formally remained intact.
The new government should not only “enforce” EU digital law formally, but build a coherent rule-of-law based digital regulatory system that prevents both state and private abuses of digital power. Hungary should fully implement and enforce the DSA, AI Act, and GDPR, ensuring safeguards against disinformation, unlawful data processing, deepfakes, and ensure data access, and algorithmic transparency.
Independent regulatory authorities and effective enforcement
Rebuilding a healthy media ecosystem in Hungary also requires restoring genuinely independent regulatory authorities. Following the deep politicisation of the media authority after 2010, reforms must re-establish the value of institutional deliberation, technocratic expertise, and rule-based decision-making. Strong institutional safeguards are particularly important in the media sector, where independent oversight was already eliminated in 2010, and no safeguard was in place to prevent political capture.
An independent media authority, together with competition, consumer protection, and data protection authorities, plays a critical role in safeguarding fair market conditions, transparency, and the integrity of democratic public discourse. Independent regulators ensure stable and predictable governance by insulating enforcement from short-term political interests, while accountability mechanisms such as judicial review, transparency, reporting duties, and complaints procedures prevent unchecked autonomy. They are also essential for rebuilding institutional trust and confidence in neutral market governance after periods of politicisation.
In line with Article 30 of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the media authority must be legally and functionally independent from government and political influence, supported by adequate resources, transparent budgeting, and effective enforcement powers. Leadership appointments, dismissal procedures, and internal governance structures must be designed to guarantee both de jure and de facto independence, including the autonomy of expert staff and decision-making bodies. Restoring trust in media governance therefore requires not only formal institutional reform, but also credible safeguards against future risk of politicization and discretionary enforcement.
European cooperation among authorities
Effective and genuinely independent regulatory authorities are not only essential at the national level, but also a prerequisite for meaningful European regulatory cooperation. The EMFA is built on sincere cooperation mandating that national media regulators must act in total independence to safeguard editorial freedom and media pluralism, ensuring a fair internal media market.
Under the EMFA, national media authorities (NMAs) participate in the European Board for Media Services, which is an independent EU advisory body, and its core role is to ensure the consistent application of EU media laws, advise the European Commission, and safeguard media freedom, pluralism, and editorial independence across all member states. Hence, NMAs’ participation cannot remain merely formal: national authorities must possess sufficient independence, expertise, and institutional capacity to cooperate effectively with both domestic institutions and European counterparts. The importance of this became particularly visible in the Indamedia/Ringier case, where substantive cooperation between the European Media Board and the Hungarian media authority proved difficult.
Conclusion
Ultimately, democratic restoration in Hungary requires the reconstruction of a viable media ecosystem based on independent regulation and enforcement, transparent ownership structures, fair market conditions, and effective safeguards for media freedom, freedom of expression, and pluralism.
