A Hungarian conservative organisation used a British family’s photograph in a campaign against same-sex adoption, falsely claiming the two fathers had abused their adopted daughter and been jailed.

A Hungarian branch of the conservative advocacy organisation CitizenGO has apologised after using a photograph of a British same-sex family in a social media campaign and falsely claiming that the two fathers had abused their adopted daughter and been imprisoned.

The photograph showed British couple Ian Tomney-Bell and Darryl with their daughter. It had previously appeared in a 2023 UK Government article in which Tomney-Bell described their experience of adopting their daughter as a same-sex couple.

CitizenGO Hungary used the image in a Facebook post promoting a petition against adoption by same-sex couples.

The post claimed that the two men had “abused their adopted daughter for years” before being sent to prison, and used the case to argue that “rainbow families” are dangerous for children.

Family member denies ever being investigated

Tomney-Bell, who was on holiday in Japan with his family when the post appeared, said the allegations were completely untrue.

In a statement shared on Facebook and LinkedIn, he said neither he nor his partner had ever been investigated by police in connection with their daughter, let alone convicted or imprisoned.

He also said the family had never given permission for their photograph to be used in a political campaign.

The photograph had originally been published as part of Tomney-Bell’s account of the couple’s adoption journey on the UK Government’s Children’s Social Care blog in October 2023. The article describes how the couple went through the adoption process before being matched with their daughter, Aspen.

Tomney-Bell said the family had received numerous messages after the Hungarian post was published and had reported the content to Facebook.

“We simply want our family left out of a political campaign that we never agreed to be part of,” he said.

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CitizenGO removes post and apologises

Telex contacted CitizenGO Hungary and campaign director Béla Teleki, asking what information had been used to support the allegations and whether the family had been asked for permission to use their photograph.

The organisation initially did not respond, and the Facebook post was subsequently removed.

After Telex published its report, Teleki responded to the questions and said the post had not been lawful. He also said CitizenGO Hungary had publicly apologised to the family.

In its apology, the organisation acknowledged that the people shown in the photograph had never been subject to the criminal proceedings described in the original post.

CitizenGO said the photograph had apparently come from a social media post circulating online, but that it had failed to verify the connection between the image and the allegations before publishing it.

The organisation described this as a mistake and said it had removed the content from all of its platforms.

It also said it would only use photographs of identifiable private individuals with documented consent in future, and would publish allegations concerning criminal offences only on the basis of verifiable official sources.

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Photo originally published by UK Government

The photograph used by CitizenGO had a very different context when it was originally published.

Tomney-Bell’s 2023 article on the UK Government’s Children’s Social Care blog recounts how he and Darryl decided to adopt, worked with an adoption agency and social worker, and eventually welcomed their daughter into their family.

The blog is described as a Department for Education platform for professionals working in children’s social care.

CitizenGO Hungary’s campaign was promoting a petition opposing adoption by same-sex couples, but the family featured in its post said they had never agreed to have their photograph used for that purpose.

Featured image: illustration, depositphotos.com