A court in south-east Hungary has sentenced two Békéscsaba residents to community service for spreading fake news about the novel coronavirus epidemic back in February, the regional chief prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Friday.
One of the men had compiled and shared content suggesting that Covid-19 patients had been discovered at Budapest’s international airport, while the other defendant, the administrator of the group in which the content was shared, failed to delete it, the statement said.
Police Investigating Facebook Users for ‘Spreading Fake News’ Causes Uproar in Hungary
The content was of the sort that could disturb public order, the statement said, adding that the two men had made money from regularly publishing articles on the internet.
Independent MP Writes Complaint Against Himself For ‘Spreading Fake News’
In its binding ruling, the court sentenced the first man to 250 hours of community service, while the other will have to do the same for 150 hours.
Featured photo illustration via police.hu