Filtered internet service available from mobile operators starting in January
In order to effectively protect minors in the online space, a safe mobile internet service designed with underage users in mind will be available from 1 January 2026 through providers Magyar Telekom, One Hungary and Yettel Hungary. The details of service provision were regulated by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, following consultations with mobile operators. When individual subscribers use the service – which they may do free of charge – certain websites most frequently visited from Hungary that are specifically designed to present pornographic content will not be available to children via mobile networks.
In keeping with the right of young people to healthy emotional and intellectual development, the law will require Internet service providers in Hungary to provide a filtered Internet service designed to protect children, which restricts access to online pornographic content.
The service is available to all subscribers. At the request of individual subscribers, providers are required to provide the filtering free of charge, as part of the basic service. The request is not considered a contract modification, and does not affect the expiry of fixed-term subscriber contracts. Further details will be provided on the operators’ websites and by their customer services once the service is launched.
The filtered internet service will rolled out in phases: mobile internet service providers from 1 January 2026, fixed-line internet access providers with 10,000 or more subscribers from 1 May 2026, and fixed-line internet access providers established in Hungary with fewer than 10,000 subscribers from 1 January 2027. For fixed-line services, subscribers have the choice of using both filtered and unfiltered internet simultaneously at the same endpoint, if they wish to do so.
With the proliferation of smart devices, young people are being exposed to online pornography at ever earlier ages, often unintentionally. Since 2017, the NMHH’s nationally representative, large-sample Digital Parenting survey has been tracking the media use habits of Hungarian children aged 7–16, as well as their parents’ knowledge, attitudes and protective strategies. According to the latest 2025 results, Hungarian children are entering the digital world at younger and younger ages: most of them already have their own (smart) phone by the age of ten, and are on social media by the age of eleven. Roughly one in three children encounter risky content online, and one in ten of these risks lead to a violation of the law.
Responsible parents typically try to protect their children through technical solutions such as filtering software, or by restricting device use. The filtered internet service offers another efficient, free and user-friendly tool for this purpose. At the same time, it remains essential for parents to regularly discuss the dangers of the online space with their children in an age-appropriate manner, in order to foster their media-literate use of digital technology.
The NMHH’s strategic priority is to safe Internet use for minors, and to strengthen protections against harmful online content. To this end, it operates the Magic Valley media literacy education centres and the Internet Hotline online legal aid service, which can be accessed by anyone who falls victim to online abuse.