ECNL, Liberties and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union are urging the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Hungary for violating the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Earlier this year, the Hungarian Parliament passed sweeping amendments to the Assembly Act, the Infraction Act, and the Facial Recognition Technology Act, effectively outlawing any LGBTQI+ assemblies. The amendments criminalise participation in Pride events banned by the police, with penalties, including excessive fines. They also introduce the use of facial recognition technology against protesters, which constitutes real-time remote biometric identification in public spaces. This is in direct breach of Article 5 of the newly adopted AI Act.
On 4 October, there is another Pride event in the town of Pecs - one of the longest-running LGBTQI+ events outside Budapest. The police in September banned the Pécs Pride and are likely to deploy facial-recognition technology at the event. According to the current legislation, anyone attending will be committing an infraction. This means that peaceful Pride participants – or even citizens committing minor offences, such as jaywalking – can be filmed, automatically identified in real time, and investigated on the spot.
However, classifying participation at the Pride as an “infraction” does not exempt Hungary from EU law. That is why we call on the European Commission to:
- Launch an infringement procedure against Hungary for violations of the AI Act and the Charter of Fundamental Rights; and
- Ensure an expedited procedure and, if the infringement proceeds, request the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to grant interim measures to ensure the laws cannot continue to be utilised pending judgment.
These steps are essential to safeguard fundamental rights and uphold Article 5 of the AI Act and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.