Internet tax threatens freedom – EU

The European Union denounced Hungary’s plan for an Internet tax as a new threat to political freedom in the country and also for broader EU economic growth. It’s a “particularly bad idea,” said EU digital commissioner Neelie Kroes. The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Oban, which has cracked down on media regulation and the justice system, announced the levy a week ago. The tax – $0.61 on each transferred gigabyte of data – was needed to help shore up the 2015 budget, the government said. The proposal has to “be seen as part of that pattern of actions which have limited freedoms,” according to Kroes’ spokesman.

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