Thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest on Sunday against a planned new tax on Internet data transfers, which they said would not only increase the tax burden but would also curb fundamental democratic rights and freedoms.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government, which has been widely accused of adopting anti-democratic policies, first unveiled plans for the new tax late on Tuesday in the draft 2015 tax bill submitted to parliament.

The draft tax bill contains a provision for Internet providers to pay a tax of 150 forints (60 U.S. cents) per gigabyte of data traffic, though it would also let companies offset corporate income tax against the new levy.