Budapest Pride: Pressure on Brussels in dispute over facial recognition grows

47 civil society organizations have urgently appealed to the EU Commission to take immediate measures to ensure that the organizers and participants of the Pride demonstration planned for Saturday in Budapest can safely exercise their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The measures enacted by the Hungarian government on April 15 provide for harsh sanctions such as "excessive fines and in some cases even prison sentences", the open letter states. The law reform also enables the use of biometric facial recognition to identify demonstrators in real time, "which is a blatant violation" of the EU's AI Regulation.

The ban, which is permissible in principle at the request of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party, has already been "applied to two previously registered LGBTQIA+ events", complain signatories such as AlgorithmWatch, Digitalcourage, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and European Digital Rights (EDRi). This "attack on the fundamental rights of people in Hungary" is aimed at the core principles of the EU. It is urgently time to act and initiate infringement proceedings against the Hungarian government's violations of EU law. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has already expressed its deep concern about these developments.

Orbán government wants to crack down

Viktor Orbán's government, on the other hand, stepped up its threats against Budapest Pride on June 28. It declared that anyone taking part would be committing a criminal offense. The demonstration had been banned "to protect the rights of children". This should be seen as a clear warning to the Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, who has vowed to hold the event: "Freedom and love cannot be banned." Among others, 20 Green MEPs, including Terry Reintke, Vice-President of the Green Group, announced their intention to join the procession.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) published a message on Wednesday in which she called on the Hungarian authorities "to allow Budapest Pride to take place without fear of criminal or administrative sanctions against the organizers or participants". She expressed her full support for the LGBTIQ+ community: "In Europe, it is a fundamental freedom to fight for your rights. You have the right to love who you want to love and to be exactly who you are."

Back in March, the Commission clearly criticized the Hungarian law that bans Pride events and allows the police to use automated facial recognition systems to identify participants in order to enforce the ban. Whether the standard actually violates the AI Act depends on whether the technology is used in real time or only after the fact.

(nie)