The 2018 annual Freedom in the World report run by Freedom House showed that Hungary has fallen from the status of ‘’a free country’’ to now only ‘’partly free’’ where it remains today. The fall is mainly due to the ascension to power of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party, who have since taken control of most of Hungary’s regional media and have passed several detrimental laws for NGOs and academics. As they currently control most of Hungary’s media, there has been minimum criticism and cover within the country of the many controversial actions the government has taken, such as a ban on gender and climate change studies, the acquisition of Hungary’s scientific and academic bodies, running an anti-migrant campaign, blocking the EU’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal and even blocking news on the coronavirus situation.