Source: Amnesty International –
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Meta failed to address harmful rhetoric on Facebook against the LGBTI community in Hungary by ineffectively applying its own moderation policies, a new Amnesty International briefing shows.
‘It erodes my soul’: Meta’s contribution to anti-LGBTI discourse in Hungary, shows how Meta’s policy decisions, including the weakening of safeguards for high risk groups in January 2025 and the significant reduction in proactive content moderation, have negatively affected the LGBTI community in Hungary.
“Meta contributed to adverse human rights impacts experienced by LGBTI people in Hungary through its policy decisions, and failed to take adequate steps to prevent the resulting harm. Risks to LGBTI people in Hungary were foreseeable and well documented, yet Meta did not adequately act on them,
Daniela Schnidrig, Interim Policy and Advocacy Adviser at Amnesty International’s Big Tech Accountability Team.
One of Meta’s failures was not properly assessing the risks that changes to its global policies posed to the Hungarian LGBTI community. This was despite knowing the hostile political climate and existing legal restrictions on LGBTI-related assemblies, including Pride, and sustained anti-LGBTI rhetoric, including by government and government-aligned actors.
Facebook occupies a uniquely influential position within Hungary’s information environment, reaching over half of the population. LGBTI people interviewed for this research said that sustained exposure to anti-LGBTI content on Facebook caused them anxiety, frustration and feelings of helplessness even in cases where they reported the harmful content.
“Facebook is just another piece in the pile of my anxiety… to them (Meta) users are not people, they are just numbers,” one interviewee told Amnesty International.
Some interviewees temporarily withdrew from the platform and participation in public discussions to protect their mental health. Others self-censored fearing a backlash if they openly expressed their sexual orientation, gender identity, or support for the rights of LGBTI people on the platform. These experiences raise concerns over whether Facebook failed to protect the rights to freedom of expression and non-discrimination, by undermining LGBTI people’s ability to participate in public and civic life on an equal basis with others.
“Over the last decade, members of the Hungarian LGBTI community faced severe smear campaigns and repressive laws from the Orbán government. They also could not express themselves freely on Meta platforms which largely added to their despair” – said Eszter Mihály, LGBTI rights officer at Amnesty Hungary.