MAGYAR TARTALOMSZOLGÁLTATÓK EGYESÜLETE AND INDEX.HU ZRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT 1 In the case of Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of: Vincent A. De Gaetano, President, András Sajó, Boštjan M. Zupančič, Nona Tsotsoria, Krzysztof Wojtyczek, Egidijus Kūris, Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer, judges, and Françoise Elens-Passos, Section Registrar, Having deliberated in private on 5 January 2016, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1. The case originated in an application (no. 22947/13) against Hungary lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two legal entities registered under Hungarian law, Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete and Index.hu Zrt (“the applicants”), on 28 March 2013 respectively. 2. The applicants were represented by Mr L. Bodolai, a lawyer practising in Budaörs. The Hungarian Government (“the Government”) were represented by Mr Z. Tallódi, Agent, Ministry of Justice. 3. The applicants complained under Article 10 of the Convention that, by effectively requiring them to moderate the contents of comments made by readers on their websites, the domestic courts unduly restricted their freedom of expression and thus the liberty of internet commenting. 4. On 22 January 2014 the application was communicated to the Government. THE FACTS I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 5. The first applicant, Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete (“MTE”) is an association seated in Budapest. It is the self-regulatory body of Hungarian Internet content providers, monitoring the implementation of a