The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) announced on Facebook they would take legal action against Index.hr news website for what they deemed hate speech after the website created a human verification pop-up asking its visitors to confirm if they are human beings or alternatively "members of HDZ" before entering the website.

“Since the use of audio and/or audiovisual media services for incitement of hatred or discrimination on the grounds of political or other convictions is prohibited in Croatia, we expect the competent authorities and the Croatian Journalists Association to act accordingly, and HDZ will take appropriate legal action,” the party said in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening.

Upon choosing the “human being” option, visitors can access the website normally, while the “member of HDZ” option automatically leads to articles about numerous corruption scandals involving HDZ officials.

HDZ condemned what they called “act of discrimination against its members and sympathizers,” saying that it came “ten days after there has been no public reaction to the hate speech of the owner of the Three Monkeys cafe in Rijeka.”

The cafe owner, angered by government’s insistence on keeping cafes and restaurants closed for business three months now as part of coronavirus restrictions, wrote on his Facebook page last week that card-carrying members of HDZ are “not welcome” at his establishment.

Index.hr said they created the pop-up in support for the cafe owner, and in the meantime their move was met with condemnations by several HDZ cabinet ministers, MPs, and MEPs.