Sajtó

With an unprecedented protest amongst Hungarian media companies, television screens and online media went blank, radio channels went silent for 15 minutes and papers printed blank pages in Hungary yesterday. The protest, organized by the Hungarian Advertising Association, attracted more that 100 media companies in two days.

The reason for the never-heard-of protest is a new advertising tax proposal, which would put a new tax burden on media companies over 500 M HUF advertising-generated income. According to the proposal, the tax burden would be 40% in the highest bracket for over 20 Mrd Ft advertising-generated income.

Content is not free. Advertising serves as a main income for the media industry. The proposed advertising tax will ruin the majority of media companies. A functioning media industry is in the vital interest of the Hungarian people. This is why we protest against the proposed advertising tax - one of the more than 100 media companies explained why join the protest showing these sentences on black screen.

„We thank everyone for joining and for the support. We firmly believe that with yesterday’s protest, we could show the real effects of the proposed advertising tax and we still ask Parliament not to vote in favor of the proposal” – says Zsolt Urban, the president of the Hungarian Advertising Association.