The European Commission will not hesitate to respond to Hungarian legislation that bans gay pride marches and allows police to use facial recognition software to track down participants, Commission Spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Euractiv.
The amendment to a child protection law adopted in Budapest on Tuesday, has been met with outrage and accusations that it violates the fundamental right to gather peacefully, the AI Act and privacy rules.
“The right to gather peacefully is a fundamental right to be championed across the European Union,” Regnier said. Freedom of expression and non-discrimination are core elements of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
“The Commission is closely monitoring the situation,” and “will not hesitate to take action, where appropriate,” he said.
Whether the Hungarian move set up violations of the AI Act depends on whether the police would use the facial-recognition live or after an event, with only the former constituting a violation, Regnier said.
However, “regardless of real-time or post-event usage, data protection rules remain applicable,” he said.
[EPD]
