It reads a lot like dozens of others we have seen over the past couple of weeks. They fail to note, or they ignore the fact, that the law creates sanctions on the spread of a very specific kind of false information -- falsehoods and distortions that could undermine efforts to protect the population against the spread of the virus. Instead, many of them claim that it results in censorship and “endangers lives.”
Endangers lives? Countries – including the US and UK – where leaders dismissed the threat are now suffering from COVID-19 outbreaks more severe than China’s. Hungary, on the other hand, decided to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Both the Hungarian government and the Hungarian people understood that implementing the right measures quickly was crucial to saving lives. The Coronavirus Protection Act enables the government to make decisions pertinent to its coronavirus defense quickly. The bill does not cede power to the government indefinitely -- the constitution requires that the extraordinary measure be abolished when the pandemic comes to an end -- nor does it dissolve Parliament. It’s as simple as that, and yet its popularity seems to be a sore point for many.
Luckily, Hungarians know what's at stake: their lives and their future. No wonder that some 90 percent of Hungarians – who are actually living in the country – support the measure and find it necessary, according to recent polls. That’s something you won’t find in any of the mainstream, liberal media coverage. What could we have expected from this network of activists and writers many of whom share some kind of affiliation to Soros-funded organizations. The criticism has been so intense and so utterly biased that it resembles some kind of coordinated effort.
The one thing that many of these arguments have in common is that none of them appear to have taken the time to actually read the law. If they had, they’d know that the Hungarian government may have been among the first countries to realize how coronavirus-related misinformation could put people’s lives at risk and thus acted accordingly. European Commission President von der Leyen, as I wrote earlier this week, said in a recent statement concerning coronavirus-related misinformation that “Those spreading disinformation harm you. Disinformation can cost lives.” Canadian politicians, have recently begun to consider legislation that would make it a criminal offense to knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people. And yet, I’ve seen no hysterical reports about threats to press freedom in Canada. Nothing.
If our critics were so concerned about Hungary and Hungarian lives, they would also know that the Hungarian government has just prepared the biggest economic protection plan in Hungary’s history. In contrast to left-wing governments that used to take a month’s salary and pensions away from people in times of crisis, this economic protection plan provides additional assistance for those in need.
The importance of saving Hungarian lives is clearly not a priority outside of Hungary. But protecting our people during this pandemic is this government’s highest priority, and we will do everything in our power to defeat this deadly disease and keep the economy stable.