Parliament can severely limit TikTok use in Hungary

Hungary’s green party, LMP, submitted a draft resolution to the Hungarian parliament raising the age limit of TikTok use in Hungary to 18 years. Máté Kanász-Nagy, the deputy leader of the parliamentary group, said they wanted to ban TikTok for underage people. He added Hungary’s legislation needs to stand up against the liberal regulation of the online world. Limitations and bans are needed, Kanász-Nagy concluded in an article written for index.hu.

He said he received positive feedback from other opposition parties. Other lawmakers also regard it an important to measure how seconds-long videos on social media attract children’s attention and affect the consumption of other, culturally relevant content. They submitted a draft resolution including several children protection measures and comprising the aforementioned TikTok ban for minors, index.hu wrote.

Some opposition parties seem to support LMP’s resolution. But Momentum would create a universal regulation system in Europe, instead of nation-state regulations. Jobbik-Conservatives said the green party’s proposal is technically impossible to implement and would be counterproductive. They also asked when the young LMP became so “boomer” to submit such a draft to the parliament.

Index.hu’s article does not mention DK, Ferenc Gyurcsány’s Democratic Coalition, the strongest opposition party. Of course, even if all the opposition parties supported the draft, they would only have 1/3 in the parliament where Orbán’s Fidesz has a supermajority with their ally, the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP). Fidesz told index.hu that they also have several children protection proposals. They will consider LMP’s proposal and form their opinion.

LMP believes that the digital economy is underregulated and authorities only follow the market’s quick development. Furthermore, TikTok shows excessive sexuality, which causes eating disorders and depression. It also contributes to the growing rates of bullying, aggression, self-harm and suicide.

Mr Kanász-Nagy said they would like all TikTok users to prove their age with their ID cards. That would be the prerequisite for registering to the platform in Hungary.

Read also:

If you would like to support the work of the Daily News Hungary staff and independent journalism,
please make a donation here

Hot news

2 Comments

Michael Steiner says:

22/04/2023 at 20:37

TikTok is a Chinese app that’s not only spyware, harvesting hundreds of millions of people’s most personal data, but also specifically designed to weaken the Western civilization by encouraging moral degeneracy, delinquency, and nihilism as well as globalist-socialist ideas. The version of TikTok permitted for use in China disallows any of the e.g. LGBTQWERTY123!@#+- stuff that’s rampant on the international versions. What’s also instructive is that, for instance, the stupid “Benadryl challenge,” which has already caused deaths among kids, is allowed to continue on without any censorship but views questioning “climate change” are removed in short shrift and with extreme prejudice. This thing needs to be eradicated, pronto.
Snaptik says:

28/04/2023 at 07:55

Michael has got it right. The younger generations are glued to their phones and have an addition to TikTok. I live in a community with lots of young people and they’re constantly posting content on the platform. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if china us using TikTok to spy on it’s users and gain access to sensitive information. I for one don’t use it.