#accessdenied – Documenting LGBTQI content blocking in Hungary

Between June 2024 and May 2025 Háttér Society’s Legal Program implements a project with the support of Digital Freedom Fund aimed at mapping the prevalence of censoring LGBTQI online content in Hungarian public spaces. The research is meant to underpin future litigation before domestic and European courts. 

In June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament passed Act no. LXXIX of 2021 (the Anti-LGBTQI or propaganda law) that restricts access of minors to “content that is pornographic or that depicts sexuality as having a purpose in itself or that depicts or propagates divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality”. The law has become self-executing and its chilling effect is palpable. Even prior to the anti-LGBTQI law there were reports that some Internet access providers (e.g. schools, libraries, public transportation companies, employers, etc.) blocked access to LGBTQI content. 

The pre-litigation research implemented in the project seeks to map the prevalence of censorship of LGBTQI online content primarily, but not exclusively, in public spaces offering Internet access to everyone. It seeks to understand how content filtering leading to restricting or blocking access to LGBTQI contents operates (i.e. its rationale, methods and technologies used, decision-makers, and possible remedies). 

The following activities will be undertaken within the framework of the project in order to achieve the above objectives:

• compiling a list of websites used for testing;
• online survey for members of the LGBTQI community and their allies where individuals across Hungary can fill in a questionnaire and mark which of the above identified websites is available from the public / semi-public access points they use;
• in-person testing at public Internet access points;
• summarizing the findings of the online survey and in-person testing to identify access providers that block LGBTQI contents;
• approaching these access providers with freedom of information requests aimed at understanding the decisions, policies, etc. justifying restricting the availability of LGBTQI contents, and the methods used for blocking;
• calling on access providers to terminate unjustified blocking access to LGBTQI contents, and monitoring their compliance;
• summarizing the research findings in a report (both in Hungarian and in English);
• organizing a workshop to discuss the report with experts and civil society actors. 

The research findings will provide evidence for future strategic litigation challenging blocking practices that disproportionately affect LGBTQI contents; the activities in the project are tailored to the litigation strategy to be implemented in the second half of 2025/2026. 

Digital Freedom Fund provides 25,000 EUR funding for the project.