<story><title>Editorial board of Index and more than 70 staff members resign</title><url>https://index.hu/english/2020/07/24/editorial_board_of_index_resigns/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dstroot</author><text>&amp;gt; ... can a democracy with no independent, local press be considered a democracy still?&lt;p&gt;Expanding this question: can a country where the government lies to its citizens, and withholds information from the press, and actively seeks to discredit news sources critical of it be considered a democracy?&lt;p&gt;If citizens cannot be informed they cannot make rational, democratic decisions.</text></item><item><author>throwaway-34512</author><text>To put this in context: for imagine the largest, and one of the last remaining independent news site in a country where most of the media is centrally controlled. Criticism of the government in that media is unknown. This site is read by close to half of the online population. The government is clearly irritated by this.&lt;p&gt;This site was Index, in Hungary. The editorial board resigning is a response of the takeover attempt from government sources.&lt;p&gt;Going forward, the largest, independent news outlet accessible to Hungarians will like be the Guardian and the New York Times.&lt;p&gt;If this was happening in an autocratic country, we’d just shrug. But this happening in an EU country, in a democracy.&lt;p&gt;The question begs itself: can a democracy with no independent, local press be considered a democracy still?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dencodev</author><text>I think those all pale in comparison to the freedoms lost from the Patriot Act. Complete and total government surveillance. Gag orders that make it illegal for you to disclose that your business is being forced to comply with surveillance. Government bullying when you try to build systems that are surveillance proof (Apple said to reverse course on end to end encrypted iCloud earlier this year due to government pressure). Not to mention extrajudicial killings of American citizens.</text></comment>
<story><title>Editorial board of Index and more than 70 staff members resign</title><url>https://index.hu/english/2020/07/24/editorial_board_of_index_resigns/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dstroot</author><text>&amp;gt; ... can a democracy with no independent, local press be considered a democracy still?&lt;p&gt;Expanding this question: can a country where the government lies to its citizens, and withholds information from the press, and actively seeks to discredit news sources critical of it be considered a democracy?&lt;p&gt;If citizens cannot be informed they cannot make rational, democratic decisions.</text></item><item><author>throwaway-34512</author><text>To put this in context: for imagine the largest, and one of the last remaining independent news site in a country where most of the media is centrally controlled. Criticism of the government in that media is unknown. This site is read by close to half of the online population. The government is clearly irritated by this.&lt;p&gt;This site was Index, in Hungary. The editorial board resigning is a response of the takeover attempt from government sources.&lt;p&gt;Going forward, the largest, independent news outlet accessible to Hungarians will like be the Guardian and the New York Times.&lt;p&gt;If this was happening in an autocratic country, we’d just shrug. But this happening in an EU country, in a democracy.&lt;p&gt;The question begs itself: can a democracy with no independent, local press be considered a democracy still?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rocqua</author><text>Such a country can be considered a democracy, as long as the government isn&amp;#x27;t too successful in suppressing information and the press. Especially if, in the end, the citizens vote that government out of power.</text></comment>