Hungary rewrites child protection laws following the CJEU's Values of the Union judgment

On 14 September 2026, the Hungarian government submitted legislative proposal No. T/680 to parliament, which would replace the content restrictions introduced in 2021 with a new child protection standard. If passed, the proposal will also give children a new right to be protected from harmful communication in public spaces, a change that would mainly affect media service providers, advertisers and online platforms.

CJEU judgment

The proposal follows the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 21 April 2026 in Case C‑769/22, Commission v Hungary (Values of the Union). The CJEU held that Hungary had breached EU law by restricting LGBTIQ+ content because the restrictions discriminated against people based on sex and sexual orientation. The legislation at issue was the Amending Law (Law No. LXXIX of 2021) which – according to the CJEU – stigmatised and marginalised non-cisgender and non-heterosexual persons by presenting them as harmful to the physical, mental and moral development of minors, solely because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. In particular, the CJEU found unlawful the provisions that restricted content which "promotes or portrays deviation from the self-identity corresponding to the sex assigned at birth, gender reassignment, or homosexuality". 

Proposal No. T/680 amends each of those provisions.

New right of the child: protection in public spaces

A new section is to be added to the Act on Child Protection under which children would have the right not to be exposed to visual or audiovisual communication that may seriously harm their physical, mental, emotional or moral development. The right would apply in public spaces and in any other freely accessible space. Whether communication is harmful would depend on its content, visual or sound effects and the way it is displayed. The proposal gives one specific example of harm: causing unjustified fear, anxiety or psychological strain.

Redefined prohibited content: a new standard

The proposal would amend the current text of the Child Protection Act since it would no longer ban content that promotes or portrays divergence “from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality” but instead make it unlawful to expose or promote the following content to anyone under 18 years: 

• pornography; 
• depictions of sexuality for its own sake that is not appropriate to the age and level of development of minors; 
• the promotion, justification or encouragement of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, contact for sexual purposes, manipulation or other sexual offences; 
• anything that may seriously harm the physical, mental, emotional or moral development of a child. 

Sector-specific amendments

The new child-protection standard would be carried into the following sector-specific laws:

• Advertising: New sections of the Commercial Advertising Act would ban exposing minors to any advertisement that depicts sexuality for its own sake or breaches the new standard of the Child Protection Act. Another new section would make it unlawful to publish any advertisement that could seriously harm the development of persons under 18 in public spaces or other places accessible to anyone without restriction.
• Media: The Media Act would be amended to stipulate that a programme would fall into Category V (i.e. not recommended for persons under 18) if its defining element is violence, content that breaches the new standard under the Child Protection Act, or the direct, naturalistic or gratuitous depiction of sexuality. A programme in this category could not count as a public service announcement or a social advertisement. The Media Council could also ask the member state with jurisdiction over a media service provider to take effective action.
• Public education: Under the National Public Education Act, sessions for pupils on sexual culture, sexual life, sexual orientation or sexual development would be banned if they breach the new standard under the Child Protection Act.
• Elections: Under a new section of the Electoral Procedure Act, posters could only be produced and used in compliance with the Child Protection Act, including during election campaigns. Another new section would allow political advertisements to be published only if they do not breach that legislation.

Implications for business and timing

The proposed law does more than implement the CJEU judgment. Advertisers, media service providers and online platforms should check their content against the new standard. 

The law would enter into force on the third day after its promulgation. 

Parliament is currently debating the proposal and is expected to adopt the final text in autumn 2026. The law would enter into force on the third day after its promulgation. 

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The article was co-authored by János Bálint and Péter Virányi.