Hungary’s internet penetration rate has steadily increased in recent years. According to Eurostat, over 86 percent of the population used the internet in 2020.1 The European Union’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) found that 88 percent of Hungarian households had access to the internet in 2020.2 Of users with fixed broadband subscriptions, 66 percent enjoyed speeds of at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) in 2019, ranking fifth among European Union (EU) countries.3 The National Infocommunication Strategy developed by the government aimed for 100 percent of households to have access to connections of at least 30 Mbps by the end of 2020.4 It is not clear if the government met that target by the end of the coverage period, though outside analysis found that the government was not on track to reach the goal as of March 2020.5 However, the government did meet the strategy’s goal of providing at least 50 percent of households access to connections of at least 100 Mbps.

Third-generation (3G) technology is nearly ubiquitous.6 Fourth-generation (4G) technology reached 99 percent of households in 2020, according to the DESI, but mobile broadband take-up in Hungary is the second lowest in the EU at 75 subscriptions per 100 people.7 As of March 2020, major providers were offering fifth-generation (5G) services in Budapest and some other cities, while more extensive 5G networks remained in development.8

Public Wi-Fi hotspots are widely available throughout Budapest and other major cities in Hungary. Through its Digital Welfare Program, the government pledged that every settlement would have public Wi-Fi available by the end of 2018.9 It is not clear whether this pledge has been fulfilled.

The cost of internet access is high but not necessarily prohibitive. According to the DESI, in 2019, only four EU Member States had more expensive mobile broadband prices than Hungary, while fixed broadband prices in the country were the 8th least expensive in the bloc.10 In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2021 Inclusive Internet Index, Hungary ranked 12th out of 22 EU Member States surveyed in terms of the affordability of prices for internet connections.11 The monthly cost of a 5 GB fixed broadband internet connection was 1.2 percent of gross national income (GNI) per capita in 2020, while the monthly cost of a 1.5 GB mobile data plan was 0.4 percent of GNI per capita, per the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In 2019, Hungary’s GNI per capita was $16,140 per the World Bank.12 The ITU also noted that Hungary improved mobile data affordability by 60 percent or more between 2019 and 2020.13

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government ordered service providers to offer 30 days of free mobile data to students and teachers.14

Levels of access differ based on geographic and socioeconomic conditions; lower access rates exist in rural areas and among low-income families. A digital divide based on ethnicity has also been observed: the Romany community has historically had less access to the internet.15 The shift to distance learning that accompanied the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary left many Roma schoolchildren behind.16

The government’s national school curriculum for 2020 introduced a new subject called “digital culture” that covers topics like the use of digital tools, coding, and robotics.17 It also increased the overall number of information technology (IT) classes in primary and secondary schools compared to the previous national curriculum, which was criticized for potentially exacerbating digital inequality (some schoolchildren from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds do not have access to internet-enabled devices at home).18

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning with digital tools temporarily became the primary method of education for all schoolchildren as of March 16, 2020. Children returned to school in September 2020. Distance learning was reintroduced in secondary education in November 2020,19 and extended to primary education in March 2021.20 According to an April 2020 analysis, as many as one in five students could not participate in distance learning because they lacked the proper equipment or sufficiently reliable internet connections.21

The government does not restrict commercial information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure,22 and backbone networks are owned by private companies rather than the state.23 Legally, however, the internet and other telecommunications services can be restricted or suspended in the event of an attack on Hungary, for preemptive defense, or during a national emergency.24

The Budapest Internet Exchange (BIX), which distributes Hungarian internet traffic among domestic internet service providers (ISPs), is overseen by the nonprofit Council of Hungarian Internet Service Providers (ISZT)25 without any government interference.26

The ICT market in Hungary lacks significant competition, with four private companies dominating it. However, there are no onerous legal, regulatory, or economic barriers to entry for potential competitors. Three ISPs—Magyar Telekom, DIGI, and Vodafone (formerly UPC) —controlled over 80 percent of the total fixed broadband market, as of December 2020.27 There are three major mobile service providers (market leader Magyar Telekom, Telenor, and Vodafone).28 A fourth mobile service provider, the Romanian-owned DIGI, launched in 2018.29 In 2019, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), the telecommunications regulator, excluded DIGI from its initial auction of 5G radio frequencies without offering a detailed explanation.30 DIGI appealed the decision in March 2020, alleging discriminatory treatment, 31 but Hungary’s Metropolitan Court dismissed the case in November.32 In March 2021, DIGI announced that it was selling 100 percent of the shares of its Hungarian operation to 4iG, a company with links to Prime Minister Orbán, with the sale expected to be completed later in 2021.33

A tax on mobile phone calls and text messages was introduced in 2012 (at a maximum rate of $3 per month per individual subscriber).34 All mobile service providers have since raised their prices.35 Previously, in 2010, the government levied two special taxes on the telecommunications industry, both of which triggered infringement proceedings in the EU in 2012. The government subsequently withdrew the taxes and both proceedings were withdrawn.36

There are no specific laws or regulations governing the provision of Wi-Fi hotspots or other public internet connections in Hungary.

The NMHH and the Media Council, established under media laws passed in 2010, are responsible for overseeing and regulating the telecommunications and mass communications industries. The head of the NMHH is appointed by the president, based on the recommendation of the prime minister, for a non-renewable nine-year term—longer than two full terms of the parliament.37 The head of the NMHH also chairs the Media Council, Hungary’s media regulator (see B6). Critics charge that this arrangement concentrates too much power in the hands of a single political appointee. At the end of 2019, five new members were elected to the Media Council, all supported only by votes of members of the ruling coalition.

A 2019 report from the Council of Europe questioned the impartiality and transparency of the NMHH, and especially the Media Council, noting that “the Media Council’s decision-making regarding market entry regulations and frequency tendering (linear radio services) has been found [to be] biased” and that “public hearing meeting minutes that would genuinely inform on stakeholders’ positions have not been made available” in some cases.38 In September 2020, the NMHH refused to renew the frequency for Klubrádió, one of the country’s last independent radio stations, after its license expired in February 2021. The frequency was allocated to a media outlet with links to Prime Minister Orbán, and Klubrádió was forced to broadcast online.39

With the adoption of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, which entered into force in 2012, the government prematurely ended the six-year term of the data protection and freedom of information commissioner, replacing him and his office with the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information. The head of the new authority is appointed by the president based on the recommendation of the prime minister for a nine-year term and can be dismissed by the president if the prime minister recommends it,40 calling into question the independence of the agency. In 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that Hungary failed to fulfill its obligations under EU law when it ended the data protection commissioner’s term.41

The government does not place any restrictions on access to social media or communications applications.

Unauthorized online gambling is illegal,42 and ISPs block a few hundred unauthorized gambling websites at the request of the National Tax and Customs Administration.43 However, unauthorized gambling websites frequently change their URLs in order to circumvent blocking.44

The authorities sometimes block content under a criminal code article banning public denial of the Holocaust, but since many of websites guilty of this offense are hosted outside of Hungary, enforcement of these decisions is often inconsistent.45

The government and its allies sometimes employ court orders and pressure to compel publishers and content hosts to delete content.

In January 2020, during the previous coverage period, a court ordered Forbes.hu to remove the names of the owners of the Hell Energy company from its list of the 50 richest Hungarians.46 The owners persuaded a court that the online news outlet had unlawfully processed the owners’ personal data in violation of the GDPR The editor-in-chief of Forbes.hu assailed the decision, calling it an “extreme interpretation” of the GDPR that could make business journalism “completely impossible.” In August 2020, the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information fined Forbes a cumulative €6,000 ($7,369) in two cases for violating GDPR regulations concerning personal data. One of the cases was also initiated by Hell Energy owners, while the other was launched by a wealthy real estate developer. According to the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), a human rights NGO that provided pro bono representation to Forbes, the authority’s interpretation of the GDPR “undermines timely journalistic reporting” and “can be expected to result in a severe chilling effect.”47

In October 2020, the political weekly Magyar Narancs faced similar legal procedures after a Budapest court issued a gag order for an investigative piece about Hell Energy.48 Magyar Narancs eventually published a curtailed version of the article.49 The use of the GDPR to force content removal is an emerging issue in Hungary.

In April 2019, Hungary’s Supreme Court decided that the online news outlet 444.hu violated the privacy rights of István Tiborcz, Prime Minister Orbán’s son-in-law, when it published a video interview with him without his explicit consent. The court ruled that Tiborcz was not a public figure and therefore entitled to greater privacy protections, ordering the removal of the video interview.50 The decision stoked controversy, since Tiborcz has been the subject of numerous corruption allegations that are relevant to the public interest.

In the second half of 2020, Facebook restricted access to 13 items at the request of the government, explaining that it removed 11 items for “violating local laws pertaining to regulated goods” and two items in response to requests from the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, the regulator that oversees the pharmaceutical industry.51 During the same period, Twitter did not receive any content removal requests from the government.52 Meanwhile, the government sent Google five content removal requests (one for “defamation,” two for “privacy and security,” one for “regulated goods and services,” and one for “other”), all of them targeting content on YouTube.53 Google removed four of these items.

For the most part, restrictions on the internet are proportional, but vague language in Hungary’s legal framework leaves some online news outlets at risk of unjustified content removal. Media laws from 2010 stipulate that media content—both online and offline—may not offend, discriminate, or “incite hatred against persons, nations, communities, national, ethnic, linguistic, and other minorities or any majority as well as any church or religious group.”54 Further, by law, media content must respect the constitutional order and human rights, and must not violate public morals.55 However, the legal framework does not define the meaning of “any majority” or “public morals.” If an online news outlet allegedly disobeys the law, the Media Council may oblige it to “discontinue its unlawful conduct,” publish a notice of a resolution on its front page, pay a fine of up to 25 million Hungarian forints ($84,100), or any combination of the three.56 If a website repeatedly violates the law, ISPs can be ordered to suspend the site’s domain, and as a last resort, the NMHH can delete the website from its administrative registry, making it illegal for the website to publish.57 Any such action can be appealed in court.58

Under the criminal code in effect since 2013, websites can be blocked for hosting unlawful content, such as defamation, Holocaust denial, or child abuse.59 Hosts are required to make content inaccessible, either temporarily or permanently, upon receiving a court order stating that the hosted content is illegal.60 The law stipulates that if the illegal content is hosted on a server located outside the country, a Hungarian court will issue a “query” to the minister of justice to make the content inaccessible; the minister then passes the query on to officials in the country where the content is hosted, and if there is no response from that state within 30 days, the court can order domestic ISPs to block the content.61 The prosecutor, the ISP, and the content provider can appeal the court order within eight days of the decision. The NMHH is the authority designated to manage the list of websites to be blocked based on court orders.62 The list, known as the Central Electronic Database of Decrees on Inaccessibility (KEHTA), went into effect in 2014, with the primary aim of fighting child pornography.

In 2020, to comply with regulations of the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive of the EU, the NMHH was given powers to oversee video content shared on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. Platforms are liable for moderating content—for example, disabling harmful content for children—and can be fined up to 100 million forints ($336,400) for failing to comply.63

Though the law generally protects against intermediary liability for content posted by third parties, in some cases courts have held individuals responsible for third-party comments on their websites. In two high-profile cases, Hungarian courts have held online news outlets liable for defamatory third-party content. The ECtHR has overruled the Hungarian courts in both instances (see B2). Additionally, in 2016, László Toroczkai, the far-right mayor of Ásotthalom, was held liable by a court for “disseminating” a defamatory comment posted by another user on his Facebook page, which stated that a journalist “should be hanged.” The court found that, by allowing comments on his page, Toroczkai had accepted responsibility for any unlawful content posted by others.64

According to national legislation, which is based on the EU E-Commerce Directive, ISPs and other intermediaries are not legally responsible for content so long as they serve as “mere conduits.”65 Intermediaries are also not obliged to verify the content they transmit, store, or make available, nor do they need to search for unlawful activity (see C6).66 However, Hungarian courts have tended to argue that this liability regime only applies to e-commerce and is not applicable to content that violates personality rights. Hosts are not liable for hosted content but must restrict access to content deemed illegal by a court.

However, both print and online media outlets bear editorial responsibility if their aim is to distribute content to the public for “information, entertainment, or training purposes.”67 The law fails to clarify what editorial responsibility entails and whether it would imply legal liability for online publications. A member of the Media Council said in 2011 that the provision could apply to a blog if it generates revenue and is registered as a media content provider with the NMHH.68

Hungary’s government supported the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market in the European Council.69 Hungarian members of the European Parliament were divided on the measure, though most members from the ruling Fidesz party opposed it.70 The directive was passed by the European Parliament in April 2019. When implemented in Hungary, the directive will hold “online content sharing service providers” liable for copyright violations that take place on their platforms.71 By the end of the coverage period, the EU Directive on Copyright had not yet been implemented in Hungary, although consultations about its implementation had begun.72

Judit Varga, the minister of justice, announced an upcoming regulation concerning major technology companies on her Facebook page in January 2021. According to her post, the government would seek to prevent social media companies from banning users arbitrarily and without remedies.73 In April 2021, she stated that Hungary would wait “for the Brussel’s rule and then create the national one accordingly,” implying that the government will track the progress of the EU-level Digital Services and Digital Markets acts before proceeding.74

Among ordinary users, self-censorship is not common, although recent detentions (see C3) may have heightened pressure on ordinary users to self-censor. In a 2017 survey, journalists told the Mérték Media Monitor that self-censorship in journalism is common, particularly in progovernment outlets.75 A 2019 Oxford University survey of journalists throughout Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, found that 13.8 percent of respondents “had stopped themselves writing a story because they feared repercussions.”76 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the parliament amended the criminal code to extend the legal definition of scaremongering (see C2).77 The amendments punish those who utter or disseminate false information that “undermines the effort to protect the country in a state of emergency” with up to five years’ imprisonment.78 The vague wording of this law may result in self-censorship among journalists and ordinary users. The HCLU found that healthcare workers and other professionals involved in the fight against COVID-19 had become less likely to speak publicly for fear of retaliation, including under the aforementioned amendments. 79

In addition, online media outlets are pressured to only publish politically “safe” content and avoid covering controversial topics such as corruption, for fear of losing government advertisement placements (see B6).80

The ongoing consolidation of online media outlets in the hands of progovernment owners has led to significant manipulation of the online information landscape to benefit the ruling party. According to a December 2019 Mérték Media Monitor study, progovernment media outlets account for roughly 41.3 percent of the online media market and 79.3 percent of the overall media market.81 In November 2018, the owners of almost all government-friendly private media outlets, including many online news outlets, donated their holdings to a newly created Hungarian nonprofit entity called the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA). The establishment of KESMA was exempted from regulatory scrutiny because the government determined that its formation was “of national strategic importance in the public interest.”82

Observers have noted the increasing number of independent online outlets that have been acquired by progovernment entities in recent years; these acquisitions are often followed by shifts toward a more government-friendly editorial slant.83 In March 2020, a progovernment businessperson acquired 50 percent of the advertising business of Index.hu, the country’s preeminent online news outlet.84 Previously, in 2018, the company which controls Index.hu was sold to a member of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), coalition partner of the ruling Fidesz party, and another businessperson.85 In July 2020, Index.hu’s chief editor was abruptly fired, prompting the majority of the website’s staff to quit in protest.86 Subsequently, Index.hu began to take a progovernment line, while the outlet’s former staff launched a new portal, Telex.hu. Index.hu has since lost 28 percent of its readership, and another 35 percent of previous readers visit the site less frequently, according to a 2020 report from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation.87

In addition to favorable coverage from privately owned online media, the government enjoys editorial control over several state-run media outlets that publish online. State-owned news agency Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI) offers its news free of charge, making it difficult for other actors to compete. Many online media outlets that have been impacted by the economic crisis lack staff to produce original reporting and tend to republish MTI wire stories. An anonymous MTI journalist told the Mérték Media Monitor that the service introduced daily routines to support the government’s agenda, such as mandating that employees “write a summary of migrant-related scandals every day.”88 In 2018, The Guardian revealed that the government gives direct editorial orders to public television employees.89 In March 2020, Politico reported that management ordered editors in state media to ask for prior permission when reporting on certain issues, like Greta Thunberg and EU politics. Editors were banned from covering the reports of prominent international human rights NGOs.90 In December 2020, journalists reported that high-profile governmental officials, presumably from the prime minister’s office, make decisions about the publication of articles concerning “sensitive” issues at MTI.91

In November 2020, an audio recording of an MTI briefing on the 2019 European Parliament elections was leaked to Szabad Európa, the Hungarian office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In the recording, Balázs Bende, one of MTI’s senior editors, told reporters that the “institution” would not support the opposition parties, and instructed those surprised by his statement to resign. He made similar comments about those who did not want to produce political reporting that favored the government.92

In a 2019 Mérték Media Monitor survey, 40 percent of interviewed journalists agreed with the statement that politicians have the ability to influence their work, and 71 percent said they were concerned about the impact of outside interference on the credibility of the Hungarian press.93

Government-sponsored disinformation continued to mar Hungary’s online information environment. Historically, progovernment content manipulation has intensified before elections, such as the October 2019 local elections. In February 2020, Deputy Defense Minister Szilárd Németh made a Facebook post about a protest by migrants and refugees at Hungary’s border with Serbia that used images from Greece and the border Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to mislead users about the nature of the protest.94

In January 2018, 444.hu reported on a sophisticated network of unpaid users coordinated by the ruling Fidesz party that share progovernment content on Facebook.95 Commenters are given directives, sometimes several a day, to post particular content within a specified timeline. Those providing the order then confirm that the content was posted. When users post memes, they are provided detailed instructions on how to create the images. Progovernment commentators remained active during the coverage period. Researchers at Oxford University also found evidence that progovernment bots, or automated accounts, were spreading friendly narratives, attacking the political opposition, and engaging in other forms of information manipulation on Facebook.96

Far-right blogs and news websites are known to circulate pro-Russia propaganda.97 Some spam Facebook with fake news.98 According to a 2017 study by the think tank Political Capital, pro-Russia news and content is disseminated “directly from [Hungarian] government-organized media.”99 According to a study by the European Values think-tank, a “large portion of mainstream media in Hungary are under the control of the government, some of them using Russian quasi-media like Sputnik or RT as their sources. In certain instances, known Russian disinformation centers are welcomed.”100

In Hungary, online media outlets in particular face economic and regulatory obstacles to their operation.

The Media Council is the NMHH’s decision-making body in matters related to media outlets, and its responsibilities include allocating television and radio frequencies and penalizing violators of media regulations. The head of the Media Council appoints the president of the Media Services and Support Trust Fund (MTVA), the body responsible for producing content for public media.101 The members of the Media Council are nominated and elected by a parliamentary majority, then appointed by the president.102 All online media outlets are required to register with the NMHH within 60 days of starting operations.103

Some of the decisions of the Media Council have been regarded as politicized. For instance, the Media Council permitted the newly created, progovernment KESMA (see B5) to skirt a regulation aimed at preventing market concentration.104 A 2019 joint report from seven different press freedom watchdogs observed that the Media Council’s decisions related to KESMA “have been taken so as to block mergers involving independent media while approving mergers among progovernment media, facilitating the concentration of progovernment ownership.”105 Critics also contend that the Media Council operates with unclear provisions and can impose high fines,106 which could lead to uncertainty, fear, and self-censorship among journalists. The 2019 joint report argued that “the threat of targeted legislation and regulatory action hangs like the Sword of Damocles over Hungary’s independent media.”107

Any online media outlets that publish critical content are far less likely to attract revenue from state advertising or private companies owned by government-friendly oligarchs.108 As the digital advertising market is not yet fully developed, this loss in revenue poses a significant threat to the operations of independent news websites.

On the other hand, the Hungarian government has increasingly channeled advertising revenue to benefit outlets that publish progovernment content. So-called national consultations and other large-scale, government-financed media campaigns are an integral part of the government’s communications strategy. In 2020, the National Communications Authority, responsible for government communications, had a budget of 50 billion forints ($168 million) that can be renewed three times.109 In the third quarter of 2020, the government spent 18 billion forints ($60 million) on advertising, and the Authority signed another contract for 30 billion forints ($101 million) in December.110 The political nature of government advertising, which gives partisan outlets a financial advantage, has further distorted the online media landscape. According to 2018 data, over a third of all online news outlets in Hungary depend on the government for at least a third of their advertising revenue.111

The introduction of an advertisement tax, which media outlets pay based on their advertising revenues, is also a burden for some media outlets, particularly smaller online ventures.112 In 2015, the tax was converted from a progressive tax into a flat tax,113 which the European Commission (and the CJEU) started investigating to determine if it harmed competition.114 In May 2019, the government decided to decrease the tax to zero percent,115 although the CJEU found that it had not violated EU law.116

Increasingly, independent news websites have turned to crowdfunding to support their operations. Many websites launched crowdfunding campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading public media to accuse them of scaremongering and dismissing their efforts as “begging for money.”117 According to a 2020 survey, five percent of the voting age population donate to media outlets, and most of them do not expect exclusive content in exchange for this contribution.118

In a 2019 Mérték Media Monitor survey, one-third of interviewed journalists reported experiencing some kind of economic pressure on their organization, including threats of losing advertisers and bribery.119

In 2016, the NMHH started enforcing EU net neutrality regulations. Two mobile internet providers, Magyar Telekom120 and Telenor,121 were found to be in violation of the regulations for giving certain video streaming services preferential treatment. The NMHH ordered the providers to cease the discriminatory practice. The providers appealed, but the decision was upheld in the Telenor case in 2017. The NMHH took further action against Telenor in 2019.122 In September 2020, the CJEU found that Telenor’s ”zero tariff” packages–which zero-rated certain apps–were incompatible with EU net neutrality regulations.123

The online media environment remains relatively diverse, though independent news websites face increasing pressure to conform to progovernment narratives. The purchase of online media outlets by progovernment entities has negatively impacted diversity (see B5), and the number of independent and opposition-affiliated news websites continues to decline. According to Dunja Mijatović, the commissioner of human rights for the Council of Europe, “the combined effects of a politically controlled media regulatory authority and distortionary state intervention in the media market have eroded media pluralism and freedom of expression in Hungary.”124

In December 2018, online media outlet Zoom.hu closed down. After the 2018 parliamentary elections, both the print and online editions of the 80-year-old Magyar Nemzet, one of the leading daily newspapers, was closed. Its owner, Lajos Simicska, an ally turned enemy of Orbán, blamed the closure on financial struggles at the paper.125 In February 2019, the political daily newspaper Magyar Idők was rebranded and continued its operations under the name Magyar Nemzet with a strong progovernment message.126 Simicska has also shuttered several other media properties. Also in April 2018, after four years of operation, English-language online news outlet the Budapest Beacon was closed. Richard Field, managing editor of the Budapest Beacon, said in an interview that “the severe erosion of media plurality in Hungary makes it nearly impossible for us to continue publishing a fact-based newspaper of record.”127 In 2019, Abcug.hu, which published long pieces on social issues, closed for financial reasons.128 In 2020, the news website Index.hu was effectively gutted (see B5).

In 2016, Hungary’s leading opposition newspaper, Népszabadság, abruptly shut down. Though the owner said it was a business decision, journalists and NGOs regarded the move as a consequence of political pressure. Before it shut down, Népszabadság had published several highly critical articles exposing government corruption and misuse of state funds by ministers. The company that later acquired Népszabadság was linked to Lőrinc Mészáros, an oligarch and the former mayor of Felcsút, Orbán’s hometown.129 Mészáros also owned 13 of the 18 regional newspapers in Hungary through the company Mediaworks; the remaining regional publications belong to two other prominent businessmen close to the current government.130 Mediaworks has since become the leading corporation in KESMA, functioning as owner of the other member organizations. In secretly recorded footage that surfaced in May 2019, former vice chancellor of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache told a woman claiming to be a wealthy Russian citizen that he was willing to cooperate with her to “build a media landscape [in Austria] like Orbán.”131 To do this, he suggested that the woman recruit Austrian businessman Heinrich Pecina, the former owner of Mediaworks, who he described as the “investor who bought and prepared every major paper for Orbán in the last 15 years.”132

Independent online media outlets have given a voice to minorities, including Hungary’s Roma,133 LGBT+ people, and religious groups.

In Hungary, social media platforms are freely available and have grown increasingly popular as a tool for advocacy and protest organization.

In December 2020, the parliament passed a law effectively banning same-sex couples from adopting children. LGBT+ social media users starting a hashtag campaign with the slogan “Family is Family,” which achieved broad popularity.134

According to a new law on assembly that came into effect in October 2018, organizers are obliged to notify the police of any demonstration 48 hours before publicly announcing it. Those who fail to notify the police first are committing a misdemeanor and can be fined. Additionally, inviting participants to a demonstration banned by the police is now a crime.135 In January 2019, a member of Momentum, an opposition political party, was fined 100,000 forints ($336) for publishing a call for a demonstration on Facebook prior to notifying local police.136 Previously, the police accepted notification through email, but under the new law, organizers are required to obtain an official account on a multipurpose e-government platform and fill in a dedicated form. In March 2019, one protest organizer received a warning after notifying the police via email instead of using the required method.

After the adoption of a new law (dubbed the “Slave Law”) in December 2018 allowing employers to extend overtime quotas, large-scale demonstrations—often organized via Facebook—were held in Budapest and other major cities. Opposition legislators often catalyzed the demonstrations by livestreaming their actions from venues that were not accessible to the public, such as the parliament floor or the headquarters of public media outlets. The popular hashtag #O1G, which is an abbreviation that translates to a vulgar insult in Hungarian against Orbán, was used online and offline to communicate dissatisfaction with the government.137

Online petitions are also popular in Hungary. For example, over 8,000 people signed an online petition entitled “We are on the Soros list, too!”138 after the progovernment weekly magazine Figyelő published the names of nearly 200 alleged “Soros mercenaries” in April 2018.139 More than 100,000 people supported an online petition against the law extending the state of danger for an unlimited time (see C1) in March 2020.140

The Fundamental Law of Hungary acknowledges the right to freedom of expression and defends “freedom and diversity of the press,”141 although there are no laws that specifically protect online expression. Additionally, in 2013, the Fundamental Law was amended to specify instances in which freedom of speech could be limited. Article 9.2 states that freedom of speech may not be exercised with the aim of violating the dignity of the Hungarian nation or of any national, ethnic, racial, or religious community. The amendment has been criticized for its overly broad scope and lack of clarity.142 An amendment inserted into the Fundamental Law in 2016 gives the government the power to override acts of the parliament for up to 15 days if a state of emergency is declared following a terrorist attack.143 In June 2018, another amendment was inserted into the Fundamental Law, which declares that freedom of expression cannot violate the private and family lives of others or the integrity of the home.144

In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parliament passed a law extending the executive’s power to rule by decree in a “state of danger” (a type of state of emergency) from 15 days to an indefinite period, which initially lasted three months.145 The extraordinary legal order was introduced again in November 2020 and extended repeatedly, first in February 2021 and then in May.146

A 2011 overhaul of the judiciary called into question the independence of the court system. The European Court of Justice found that the Hungarian government violated EU law after it enacted an amendment that abruptly decreased the obligatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 62, removing the most senior judges from the judiciary.147 After Tünde Handó, the spouse of a Fidesz member of the European Parliament, was elected by the parliament to lead the National Office of the Judiciary (OBH), she repeatedly attempted to curtail judicial independence, including through the imposition of an integrity code that enabled the OBH to threaten and intimidate judges. The Constitutional Court declared the integrity code unconstitutional in 2017, but judges remain susceptible to political interference.148 In 2019, Handó was elected as a member of the Constitutional Court. According to Amnesty International Hungary, the mere change in leadership did not improve the independence of the judiciary significantly.149 In 2020, the government further consolidated its control over the courts.150

In the final days of 2018, the parliament established a new administrative court system, to be filled with judges whose appointments would be controlled by the minister of justice, in contravention of the principle of separation of powers.151 Their jurisdiction would have covered cases related to freedom of information, the right to protest, election law, and other matters in which the continued independence of the existing courts stymied the government.152 Decisions of the NMHH would have also been overseen by the new administrative courts. In March 2019, the Venice Commission warned that, with the establishment of the court system, “very extensive powers are concentrated in the hands of a few stakeholders and there are no effective checks and balances to counteract those powers.”153 However, after the European Parliament elections in May 2019, the government postponed the launch of the administrative court system, presumably in an effort to be reinstated by the European People’s Party, which suspended the membership of Fidesz in March 2019 over its antidemocratic practices.154

There are a number of laws that could potentially be misused to penalize legitimate online activities. The Hungarian criminal code bans defamation, slander, humiliation of national symbols (the national anthem, flag, and coat of arms), dissemination of totalitarian symbols (the swastika and the red star), denial of the sins of National Socialism and communism, and public scaremongering through the media.155 Defamation cases have decreased since a 1994 Constitutional Court decision which asserted that a public figure’s tolerance of criticism should be higher than an ordinary citizen’s.156 In March 2020, the parliament amended Article 337 of the criminal code to punish the spread of “any untrue fact or any misrepresented true fact that is capable of hindering or preventing the efficiency of protection” with up to five years in prison.157 The amendments also changed the wording of a provision of Article 337 to punish information spread “with regard to the public danger that is capable of causing disturbance or unrest in a larger group” with up to three years in prison. Rights groups say the vague wording and unclear definitions in the amendments allows them to be used to intimidate and oppress critics of the government.

Hungarian law does not distinguish between traditional and online media outlets in libel or defamation cases, and the criminal code stipulates that if slander is committed “before the public at large,” it can be punished by imprisonment of up to one year.158 In 2013, the criminal code was modified to include prison sentences for defamatory video or audio content. Anyone creating such a video can be punished with up to one year in prison, while anyone publishing such a recording can be imprisoned for up to two years. If the video is published on a platform with a wide audience or causes significant harm, the sentence can increase to up to three years in prison.159 The amendment was condemned by both domestic and international actors for threatening freedom of expression and targeting the media.160 While libel and defamation are generally prosecuted by the alleged victim, in cases where a public official brings the charge, the state will provide a public prosecutor. In these cases, the defendant must go through an invasive registration process: their photograph and fingerprints are taken before the court proceedings commence.161

A new civil code, which took effect in 2014, also protects citizens from defamation and insults to their honor,162 and compels those who are found responsible to pay restitution.163 The code includes a provision that may limit the free discussion of public affairs in cases where the human dignity of a public figure is violated.164

The law known as the “Stop Soros” law passed in June 2018 and includes vaguely worded provisions penalizing any activity that “facilitates or supports illegal immigration,” which includes assisting individuals who are entering or remaining in Hungary illegally.165 These penalties presumably apply to online activities. However, there have been no prosecutions under the law to date.

Users occasionally are arrested, detained, and prosecuted for their online activities, although not systematically.

In May 2021, officials charged a hacker known as Nerbot with committing a crime against an information system, which could result in a two-year sentence. Nerbot had uploaded a video in September 2020 that showed a bot he made automatically responding to the government’s “National Consultation” surveys, which ask citizens a number of questions that usually contain pro-government propaganda.166 Often the government uses the answers, which can be entered anonymously, to justify its policies. In July, the prosecutor’s office stated they had not yet charged Nerbot, who had not technically hacked the website. In the same month, the government added reCAPTCHA, which helps websites distinguish human users from bots, to the National Consultation website.167

In December 2020, police searched the home of four people who frequently post online denying the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their electronic devices were confiscated as part of an investigation into online scaremongering.168

During the previous coverage period, two ordinary users were detained for online speech that appeared to be protected under international human rights standards. In May 2020, police detained a man for allegedly violating Article 337 of the criminal code after he criticized the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on Facebook. In an April 2020 post, the man addressed Prime Minister Orbán as “our dear dictator,” asking him not to relax quarantine measures. He was quickly released by the police, and no charges were brought against him.169 That same month, opposition-affiliated activist János Csóka-Szűcs was detained by police (who also searched his home) on suspicion of scaremongering after posting in a private Facebook group that the government planned to clear 1,700 hospital beds in the town of Gyula for potential COVID-19 patients. (In fact, 1,200 hospital beds were set aside.)170 Csóka-Szűcs was not charged.

By May 2020, the national police had opened 87 investigations into alleged scaremongering.171 While the total number of cases was not known as of May 2020, the few convictions that had been handed down under Article 337 seem to have involved perpetrators who deliberately or recklessly disseminated false information; no users appeared to have been convicted for publishing political opinions or other content protected under international human rights standards.172

In Hungary, online media outlets frequently face civil proceedings related to the content they produce, and many have in-house counsel to deal with the volume of claims. An editor from 444.hu reported that the online media outlet is sued “basically every day,” explaining “99.9” percent of the suits are “frivolous civil lawsuits.”173

In March 2021, hvg.hu columnist Árpád W. Tóta was found guilty of violating the dignity of the members of the Hungarian nation under the civil code. He was sued over a satirical article that called Hungarian ancestors arriving to Europe “dirty migrants.” The court ordered Tóta to remove the defamatory expressions from his article, publish an apology, and pay 400,000 forints ($1,346) as damages to the two plaintiffs.174

In November 2018, an Index.hu journalist, András Dezső, was found guilty of abusing personal data by a Budapest court, and was given a warning. Using publicly available data, the journalist had cast doubt on the credibility of a person who claimed that she relocated to Hungary from Sweden because of the large refugee population in the latter country.175 In September 2019, Dezső was acquitted on appeal.176

Some laws restrict online anonymity in Hungary. Generally, users who wish to comment on web articles need to register with the website by providing an email address or their social media credentials. The operator of a website may be asked to provide the authorities with a commenter’s IP address, email address, and other data in case of an investigation (see B6).177 Additionally, users must provide personal data upon purchasing a SIM card in order to sign a contract with a mobile service provider.178

In 2016, new antiterrorism legislation sought to expand the authorities’ access to encrypted content online. The legislation amends the Online Trade Services and Services Connected to the Information Society Act, and obligates providers of encrypted services, including messaging platforms, to grant authorized intelligence agencies access to the communications of their clients upon request, unless the communication is encrypted end-to-end, making compliance impossible. Providers of encrypted services must store their clients’ messages and metadata for up to one year (see C6).179 The legislation revealed the authorities’ intent to undermine encryption, though it is unclear how it is enforced.

Score Change: The score declined from 3 to 2 to reflect a July 2021 report citing evidence that the government used NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware technology to target lawyers and journalists, including three whose devices were infected in 2019.

The lack of judicial oversight of state surveillance of ICTs and the Hungarian government’s use of invasive surveillance technology raise concerns about the degree to which the right to privacy online is protected. Concerns that the government is abusing state surveillance powers abound.

In July 2021, after the coverage period, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories identified phone numbers linked to Hungarian journalists and lawyers in a leaked dataset. Investigators describe the dataset as a list of people of interest to clients of the company NSO Group, which sells the spyware product Pegasus.180 According to a forensic investigation, Pegasus infected mobile devices belonging to Szabolcs Panyi and András Szabó, two journalists who work for independent media outlet Direkt36, in 2019.181 The mobile devices of of Brigitta Csikász, an experienced investigative reporter, was also infected with the spyware,182 while Dávid Dercsényi, a former journalist at hvg.hu, had many of his former phone numbers selected for targeting.183 Prominent Hungarian lawyers and Zoltán Varga, owner of the media company Centrál Médiacsoport, also had their phone numbers selected for targeting.184 The government has declined to confirm it uses Pegasus spyware; for instance, Justice Minister Judit Varga refused to comment on the investigation, despite calls for her to resign.185

In March 2020, during the extraordinary legal declaration of a state of danger (see C1), the government issued a decree allowing the minister for innovation and technology to access and handle “any available data” to prevent and beat back the COVID-19 pandemic.186 With neither proper safeguards nor any transparency, this regulation allows for the formation of a vast database including data of internet users. In early May 2020, a government decree suspended several provisions of the GDPR for the duration of the extraordinary legal order, while the start date of time limits for certain legal procedures protecting privacy rights outlined in the GDPR were postponed.187 Rights groups questioned the legality of the decree, noting that derogation from the GDPR can only be done “by way of a legislative measure.”188

In November 2018, investigative news website Átlátszó.hu reported that the Hungarian government had contracted a private company to monitor content in various social media networks.189

Rather than allow opposition lawmakers to scrutinize state surveillance activities, legislators from the ruling Fidesz party have prevented the parliament’s National Security Committee, which has oversight powers, from reaching quorum.190

In 2016, the ECtHR found that the law on surveillance is in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.191 However, to date no amendment to the law has been made to align it with European standards. Among the problematic elements of the law is a provision that allows the minister of justice to approve the surveillance of individuals,192 rather than a judge.193

Government representatives, including Szilárd Németh, have taken to justifying any potential surveillance of local NGOs by claiming the organizations are “foreign agents” whose primary goal is to undermine the government, frequently referring to the figure of George Soros.194

Prior to the Pegasus revelation, several civil society organizations claimed that the authorities have purchased potentially invasive surveillance technologies. In 2015, files leaked from the Milan-based commercial spyware company Hacking Team revealed that the Hungarian government was a client.195 In 2013, the digital rights organization Citizen Lab also reported finding a FinFisher command and control server, which facilitates surveillance, in Hungary.196 Though it is not clear whether the server is operated by the government or other actors, the software is marketed to governments.197

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government launched a voluntary contact tracking app called “VirusRadar” which uses Bluetooth technology to log whenever two or more users are near each other.198 Users’ app profiles are stored by a state body, but their location data remains on their mobile devices unless they choose to share it with the authorities. Later in 2020, when rising numbers of COVID-19 patients made it difficult for police to enforce home quarantine orders, the government introduced a new mobile application called “Home Quarantine System.” Those who are ordered to quarantine by health authorities can voluntarily choose to use Home Quarantine System, as an alternative to quarantine enforcement visits by police. The application sends users requests to take their pictures at random times every day, through which the app will identify them and use location metadata to confirm that the user remains in quarantine.199

In February 2021, the government introduced a physical identification card for those who are vaccinated or had recovered from an infection.200 In May, authorities released a mobile application as an alternative to the physical card.201

The Electronic Communications Act obliges service providers to collect the data of their users indiscriminately and transfer it to state authorities when requested. The process lacks transparency.

Mobile service providers and ISPs in Hungary must retain user data for up to one year and provide that data to the authorities upon request.202 There is no publicly available information on how often providers hand over user data, despite the fact that the government has a legal obligation to provide the European Commission with statistics on user data requests made by investigating authorities.203 By law, “electronic service providers” are also obligated to “cooperate with organizations authorized to perform intelligence information gathering and covert acquisition of data.”204 Additionally, the Electronic Communications Act states that service providers must agree with the National Security Special Service upon the written request “about the conditions of the use of tools and methods for the covert acquisition of information and covert acquisition of data.”205

In 2016, the HCLU launched litigation against two major mobile service providers in an attempt to force the Constitutional Court to annul data retention requirements.206 This litigation remains ongoing. National Security Services can currently gather metadata “from telecommunications systems and other data storage devices” without a warrant.207 Security agents can access and record the content of communications transmitted via ICTs, though a warrant is required to do so.208 Privacy experts say the authorities have installed black boxes allowing them direct access to ISPs’ networks.209 There is no data on the extent to which, or how regularly, the authorities monitor ICTs.

Critics of the government who speak out online brave coordinated, targeted harassment from government officials as well as progovernment actors, including government-friendly media outlets as well as anonymous trolls.210 Far-right actors are also known to wage smear campaigns against perceived enemies of the Hungarian nation.211

In March 2021, Dunja Mijatović, reported that Hungarian human rights defenders and investigative journalists face “sustained smear campaigns” designed to communicate “that there will be prompt retaliation against any form of criticism of the government.”212 For example, in April 2021, a state television channel launched a smear campaign against Austrian journalist Franziska Tschinderle,a journalist for profil online, after she questioned Fidesz representatives at the European Parliament. Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, subsequently took to Facebook to accuse Tschinderle of spreading “fake news.”213

In August 2020, political activists painted satirical slogans on the asphalt of the parking lot in front of the Foreign Ministry, after the foreign minister was accused of accepting an expensive yacht trip from a wealthy businessman. Police officers searched a 444.hu journalist who was taking pictures of the slogans.214

Hate speech—including against LGBT+ people, Roma, and migrants and refugees—is commonplace on the Hungarian internet.

Bloggers and ordinary ICT users are not generally subject to physical violence by state authorities or any other actors. There were no reported incidents of retributive physical violence during the coverage period. In 2017, a 444.hu reporter was allegedly intimidated and assaulted by a government official during a public forum.215 While the police found no evidence of illegal activity, they declined to distribute the video that served as the journalist’s evidence. The official then initiated a criminal defamation case in late 2017 against the journalist and she was found guilty in May 2020.216

In the past, technical attacks in Hungary have been primarily perpetrated by nonstate actors against government websites, though these attacks remain fairly sporadic.

In 2015, Anonymous Operation Hungary, the collective’s Hungarian branch, started a “war” on the government and Fidesz.217 In 2017, the group targeted progovernment news websites, including PestiSracok.hu and Origo.hu, and the government think-tank Századvég.218 In 2019, actors allegedly affiliated with North Korea hacked into a state body called the Hungarian Development Center. 219 In March 2020, the state-operated information site for information on the COVID-19 pandemic was subject to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.220 In January 2021, a cyberattack disrupted several government websites.221