The Christian Science Monitor

Facing Orbán's 'Death Star,' Hungary's protesters strike back

Kriszta Tóth has been on the streets of Budapest since the protests against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began last week. Like many of her fellow demonstrators, Ms. Tóth sees taking to the street as the last avenue they have left for expressing dissent, thanks to Mr. Orbán’s effective monopoly of the media.

“I don’t think there is any other way but demonstrating,” the social worker says. “That is why I go every night.”

For eight years, Mr. Orbán has been steadily eroding democratic norms and the rule of law in Hungary. He has consolidated control over the media and the judiciary, changed the electoral system to benefit his party, and cracked down

Confronting 'the Death Star'Shades of 1956?

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor5 min readPopular Culture & Media Studies
Beyond TikTok Ban: How One State Is Grappling With Teens And Scrolling
Will American teens lose their access to TikTok? Should they? A new law that could ban the video app – a platform especially popular with youth – unless it is sold by Chinese owner ByteDance, moves the former question closer to an answer. But the lat
The Christian Science Monitor5 min read
In Kentucky, The Oldest Black Independent Library Is Still Making History
Thirty minutes into the library tour, Louisa Sarpee wants to work there. History is so close to her. One block away from her high school, the small library she had never set foot in laid the foundation of African American librarianship. What is more,
The Christian Science Monitor4 min read
Are World’s 200 Million Pastoral Herders A Climate Threat?
In early 2020, just before the world locked down, I was in Ethiopia as a journalist, documenting the challenges faced by a tribe of nomadic pastoralists that has made its home in the Danakil Desert for over 1,000 years. About 1.5 million Afar tribesp

Related Books & Audiobooks