[JURIST] The EU has not done enough to address media abuses in Hungary, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) [advocacy website] said in a report [materials] Tuesday. The international free press advocacy group stated in its report “Balancing Act” that, despite the EU’s efforts to be a global leader in press freedom, it continues to face challenges from some member states that have introduced various laws that threaten to limit press freedom. The CPJ expressed concern over the policies of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban [BBC profile], including the Media Act and the Press Freedom Act, which the group fears ensure the national conservative ruling party will have control over the country’s Media Council. While the CPJ has expressed that the EU has been too lenient on its member state, the EU’s executive Commission said that there was little the EU could do [AP report] in that area, as member countries are responsible for regulating the media.

Countries throughout the world have faced criticism for limiting freedom of the press. Earlier this month Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardoned two Al Jazeera journalists who had been sentenced [JURIST reports] in late August for releasing video footage that allegedly contained false news in support of the Muslim Brotherhood. In August el-Sisi approved [JURIST report] a 54-article counterterrorism law that has been met with significant controversy, as many believe it infringes on the freedom of the press. In April Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] warned [JURIST report] that the Sudanese government’s “crackdown on independent media and civil society” would have a chilling effect on political speech. In March 2014 Human Rights Watch called on Myanmar to pass more protective media laws and end the arbitrary arrests of journalists. The country passed [JURIST report] a new media law and new publishing law that March, with some saying the two work at cross-purposes and fail to sufficiently protect journalists.