Digital activism and Hungarian media reform: The case of Milla

Wilkin, Peter, Dencik, Lina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1982-0901 and Bognár, Éva 2015. Digital activism and Hungarian media reform: The case of Milla. European Journal of Communication 30 (6) , pp. 682-697. 10.1177/0267323115595528

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Abstract

This article examines the rise of the Internet-based opposition group, One Million for the Freedom of the Press in Hungary (or Milla for short), and considers its impact as a form of digital activism in Hungarian political culture. Milla was founded in December 2010 as a Facebook group in response to the newly elected Fidesz government and its fundamental revision of the Hungarian constitution and, in particular, its media laws. Milla is a civil society group, based in Budapest, who saw the Fidesz government as a threat to the democratic freedoms set out in the post-communist settlement in Hungary. It emerged at a time when the mainstream Hungarian opposition parties were in disarray, and it took on the role of challenging the legitimacy of Fidesz actions. Milla is an important example of the idea of digital activism and virtual solidarity, and its experiences serve to illustrate many of the strengths and weaknesses of these notions. The article sets out the ways in which Milla has sought to generate support for itself and opposition to the government, how it has organized its activities and ultimately the specific problems that it faces in Hungarian civil society.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DJ Netherlands (Holland) > DJK Eastern Europe H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Civil society; democracy; digital; activism; Hungary; media; Milla
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0267-3231
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	2015
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2024 13:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/76795

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