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Freedom on the Net 2025

Hungary

Partly Free
69
100
A Obstacles to Access 21 25
B Limits on Content 23 35
C Violations of User Rights 25 40
Last Year's Score & Status
69 100 Partly Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
Hungary_hero

header1 Key Developments, June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

Hungary continued to enjoy high levels of overall connectivity and affordable internet access. While there are few overt restrictions on content in Hungary and people rarely are detained or imprisoned in retaliation for their online activities, the government exerts control over telecommunications and the online media landscape. Authorities have also launched smear campaigns and politicized investigations into online media outlets and journalists.

  • In January 2025, telecommunications providers Vodafone Hungary and DIGI, both of which are owned by the Budapest-based 4iG, merged to form the One Hungary brand. The Hungarian Competition Authority had previously ruled that 4iG’s 2022 acquisitions of both Vodafone Hungary and DIGI were in the “national strategic interest” (A4).1
  • A June 2024 report from Hungarian organizations Political Capital, Lakmusz, and the Mérték Média Monitor found that the ruling Fidesz party and associated media and influencer groups had spent €1.1 million ($1.1 million) to spread the narrative that European politicians and the Hungarian opposition wanted to lead Hungary into World War III by supporting Ukraine. (The Russian military had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.) The media campaign took place ahead of the June 2024 European Parliament (EP) elections (B5 and B7).2
  • In June 2024, Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office, which was created under the 2023 Defense of Sovereignty Act, launched investigations into the independent online news outlet Átlátszó because it received foreign funding, as well as Transparency International Hungary for allegedly using foreign funding to influence voters. A subsequent freedom of information request filed by Átlátszó found that the office had ordered state institutions, including the Media and Infocommunications Authority, the Tax and Customs Authority, and the Hungarian National Bank, to collect the personal data of citizens; the outlet said that some of requests appeared to go beyond the office’s legal mandate (B6 and C6).3
  • In April 2025, Hungarian lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment banning LGBT+ events, a month after the approval of a March 2025 law that banned Pride protests specifically. The law also enabled authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify people attending LGBT+ events (B8, C1, and C5).4

header2 Political Overview

Since taking power in the 2010 elections, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Alliance of Young Democrats–Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) party has pushed through constitutional and legal changes that have allowed it to consolidate control over the country’s independent institutions. The Fidesz government has passed antimigrant and anti-LGBT+ policies, as well as laws that hamper the operations of opposition groups, journalists, universities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are critical of the ruling party or whose perspectives Fidesz otherwise finds unfavorable.

This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.

A Obstacles to Access

A1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do infrastructural limitations restrict access to the internet or the speed and quality of internet connections? 6.006 6.006
A2 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Is access to the internet prohibitively expensive or beyond the reach of certain segments of the population for geographical, social, or other reasons? 3.003 3.003
A3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the government exercise technical or legal control over internet infrastructure for the purposes of restricting connectivity? 6.006 6.006
A4 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? 4.004 6.006
A5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? 2.002 4.004

B Limits on Content

B1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the state block or filter, or compel service providers to block or filter, internet content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 4.004 6.006
B2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do state or nonstate actors employ legal, administrative, or other means to force publishers, content hosts, or digital platforms to delete content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 2.002 4.004
B3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do restrictions on the internet and digital content lack transparency, proportionality to the stated aims, or an independent appeals process? 3.003 4.004
B4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do online journalists, commentators, and ordinary users practice self-censorship? 3.003 4.004
B5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are online sources of information controlled or manipulated by the government or other powerful actors to advance a particular political interest? 2.002 4.004
B6 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are there economic or regulatory constraints that negatively affect users’ ability to publish content online? 1.001 3.003
B7 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? 3.003 4.004
B8 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do conditions impede users’ ability to mobilize, form communities, and campaign, particularly on political and social issues? 5.005 6.006

Score Change: The score declined from 6 to 5 because of the impact on online organizing of an April 2025 constitutional amendment that bans LGBT+ events.

C Violations of User Rights

C1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do the constitution or other laws fail to protect rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, and press freedom, including on the internet, and are they enforced by a judiciary that lacks independence? 4.004 6.006
C2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are there laws that assign criminal penalties or civil liability for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 2.002 4.004
C3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 5.005 6.006
C4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? 2.002 4.004
C5 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? 2.002 6.006
C6 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users’ right to privacy? 4.004 6.006
C7 1.00-5.00 pts0-5 pts
Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? 4.004 5.005
C8 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are websites, governmental and private entities, service providers, or individual users subject to widespread hacking and other forms of cyberattack? 2.002 3.003

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because there were fewer reported cyberattacks against online media outlets during the coverage period.

On Hungary

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Country Facts

  • Population

    9,643,000

  • Global Freedom Score

    65 100 partly free

  • Internet Freedom Score

    69 100 partly free

  • Freedom in the World Status

    Partly Free

  • Networks Restricted

    No

  • Websites Blocked

    Yes

  • Pro-government Commentators

    Yes

  • Users Arrested

    No