THOUSANDS OF HUNGARIANS marched in Budapest today against a plan to tax Internet usage.
It’s the second mass protest this week against the bill, which has been championed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“We are not going to let it happen,” the crowd chanted as it passed through the central of the capital.
“The internet tax is a symbol of the government autocracy,” Zsolt Varady, founder of a Hungarian social media website told the crowd, who chanted “Orban, get out!”
The proposed tax, which would be a first for any EU country if it is adopted, was slammed today by the European Commission.
Commission spokesperson Ryan Heath called it a “terrible idea” that “won’t work.”
The Hungarian government says the tax, which would levy 150 forints (50 cents) for each transferred gigabyte of data – is needed to help plug a hole in the 2015 budget.
But critics say the tax is a move to gag free expression.
“This is an unjust and bad tax which hurts Internet freedom and people’s right to information,” an organiser of the protest, Balazs Gulyas, told AFP.
Contains reporting by AFP.
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