The government set up the Digital Freedom Committee in the spring not to censor Facebook, but to scrutinise rule of law guarantees on the Internet, the Justice Minister said at a conference held on Friday in Budapest which was also streamed online.

Judit Varga addressed the innovation forum called ‘think BDPST’ organised by the Antall József Knowledge Centre for the fifth time.

She said they are scrutinising how the law is upheld on the Internet, including the protection of consumers and children. The question is whether the rule of law guarantees “customary” in the offline world are also available in relation to tech giants, and if not, whether they can be created. When citizens have problems in online space, there is no guarantee at all that they can contact an office to seek remedy; these companies are not necessarily tied to state borders, the Minister pointed out.

In her view, the state must continuously monitor changes in the world, and as they are dynamic, we must create laws which are able to adapt to changed circumstances.

Tech giants raise a number of different questions, including that their taxation and activities restricting freedom of opinion are equally questionable. These are issues that relate to different topics, requiring different sets of criteria, Ms. Varga said, adding that the Ministry of Justice concentrates more on rule of law dilemmas.

She said in online space “pseudo-legal systems” are coming into being. The largest service providers have their own operating models. By clicking, consumers accept general terms and conditions, and as a result, legal remedy options may well be removed from under the sovereign jurisdiction of their own countries. Problems emerge when someone does not understand what is happening to them, why they are being sanctioned on social media, and they are unable to take the “usual” measures, including turning to a court of law.

The Minister observed that in many cases a Hungarian citizen is not even communicating with an actual official, but is required to face the decision of a computer that follows algorithms.

The order in which search engines list businesses raises issues under competition law, while the perception of “influencers” – what category they should fall into – comes under advertising law.

Ms. Varga said they have compiled a publicly available document based on information obtained so far, and they continue to expect the institutions and citizens concerned to share their experiences. Their question is whether there is any regulatory job to be done regarding this matter, and if so, whether it should be done on a Hungarian or international level.

She mentioned that she has already contacted Facebook’s regional director twice. She wants to know the criteria, based on which the social media company set up its oversight board investigating breaches due to controversial contents.

The Minister took the view that people should guide their use of the Internet towards “common sense”. It is important for them to understand that what they see in their own newsfeed is not necessarily true. We must try to step out of “capsules” or else after a while friends will receive such diverging newsfeeds that they will no longer be able to communicate with one another. Ms. Varga drew attention to the importance of personal contact and exchanges, and also spoke about the dangers of free services which may well be seeking to take our data assets out of Europe.