TI Hungary opposes 'taxing transparency'

Transparency International (TI) Hungary and the public information watchdog K-Monitor call on Hungarian President János Áder not to sign into law the latest amendment to the law on the freedom of information according to which the government can charge unknown fee for providing public information.

Transparency International says a proposed law in Hungary could sharply restrict the public’s access to information about government dealings, creating a serious risk of corruption by public officials which will go unchecked.

According to TI, the law appears to be a misguided response by the Hungarian government to civil society’s earlier successful use of freedom of information tools to publicly expose government malpractice and questionable public spending.

The law creates uncertainty about how much a member of public would be charged when making a freedom of information request, leaving open the possibility that filling the request would be very expensive. It follows a 2013 amendment that gave officials excessive latitude to reject requests for public information.

“You cannot charge more than a nominal fee to people who want to find out how their tax dollars are being spent. This law opens the door to massive costs related to public information requests and nothing less than an unfair tax on transparency,” Anne Koch, Director of Europe and Central Asia at Transparency International said.