PARIS (AP), Reporters Without Borders has placed Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, on its list as a predator. This is the first time a leader from Western Europe has been added to the list of heads of government or state who are aggressively limiting press freedom.Monday's list includes 37 leaders.The list also included two women: the premier of Bangladesh and Hong Kong's administrative chief. Also, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, was added. The watchdog, also known as RSF in French, published the list for the first time since 2005.According to the report, Orban used a variety of predatory tactics to undermine media pluralism since his return to power in 2010.These methods can be subtle or brazen but they are always effective, according to the report. The report cited control over 80% media through purchases by oligarchs who are close to Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party. According to the report, private media in Hungary are denied access to government advertising and discriminated against when it comes to accessing information. They are also denigrated as fake news purveyors.Zoltan Kovacs, the Hungarian government spokesperson, lashed out at the France-based RSF. He said they should be called Fake News Without Borders. Tamas Dtsch, a member of Orbans Fidesz and a European Parliament lawmaker, posted on Facebook that the report was part of the latest wave against Hungary.Bin Salman (35-year-old crown prince) of Saudi Arabia who holds day-to-day power within the kingdom is another person who has tried to restrict media freedoms.His repressive methods included spying and threats, which sometimes led to torture, abduction and other unthinkable actions. The RSF report stated that Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder revealed a predatory approach that was simply barbaric.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, visited Istanbul's kingdoms consulate to obtain documents for marriage. He was then brutally murdered inside the consulate in 2018.Continue the storyThe list also included women.The report stated that Carrie Lam, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has been a puppet for Chinese President Xi Jinping and now supports his predatory policies toward the media. It also noted the closing of Hong Kong's most independent newspaper, Apple Daily, as well as the imprisonment of its founder, Jimmy Lai.Lam was also joined by Sheikh Hasina (Banglades prime minister) on the prey list.RSF stated that her predatory actions include the 2018 adoption of a law on digital security, which has resulted in more than 70 bloggers and journalists being charged.The chief of the watchdog urged the world's governments to reject the practices of the leaders it identified and to acknowledge the positive contributions of an independent press.Christophe Deloire, RSF secretary general, said that leaders he considered predators must be stopped.
