Tip of the iceberg – what problems can sharenting cause?

„An 18 year old woman is now suing her parents because they posted her pictures on Facebook. According to the claimant, the parents started sharing hundreds of pictures of their child as early as 2009, including intimate and emberrassing moments. The parents knew no shame or boundaries.”

„A mother was fined 10.000,- euros, because she posted pictures of her teenage son on Facebook without the son’s consent – decided a court in Rome.”

A few years ago, cases like these could have sounded absurd, however more and more similar lawsuits are being filed nowadays.

Why would sharing a picture mean any problems? Parents have been showing pictures of their children for ages, isn’t this the same? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no.

Legal aspects of sharenting

According to the Hungarian Civil Code, people under the age of 18 have limited capacity to act. The law further divides minors into two categories: people under 14 have no capacity to act at all, while people between 14 and 18 have limited capacity, meaning that for their actions to be valid, the approval of their legal guardian is necessary. Still, minors are considered as individual human being with their own legal capacity and their own rights. Additionally, their rights are further protected by additional rules in order to guarantee their healthy upbringing.

It is evident that a child (minor) is dependent on their parents. This dependency however must not limit the protection of their rights, it should broaden it. This is also true to the child’s personality rights. Posting a picture of a minor without their consent is a violation of their rights. The parents’ rights are also limited as per what they must, what they can, and what they cannot do to their children. Violating their personality rights is one such issue.

What is the potential risk of this?

First of all, sharenting puts the security, identity and good reputation of the child at risk. At the very least, their personality rights may easily be violated. Additionally, posting an excessive amount of content on the internet may harm the family’s trust and harmony. In extreme cases, crimes may also be commited, such as harrassment or other actions.

Regarding basic rights and freedoms the source of the problem is that the parents’ freedom of speech and opinion confronts the child’s right for self-determination, dignity, personal life, personal secrecy and rights regarding personal images.

Additionally, sharenting may also pose problems regarding data security and data protection. What is once posted on the internet, will never leave the internet, and this is also true for the child’s pictures and other contents. It is all too easy to download or copy any content posted on the internet, even if the post itself has security measures built into the platform. It is the parents’ obligation to consider such risks before posting anything about their child on the internet.

What should parents do before posting contents of their children?

§ It is recommended to study the security settings and measures of the chosen platforms

§ They must be aware of the fact that they can and they should ask for professional help in case they are in doubt

§ They must make sure never to share any location data regarding their child

§ They must always ask the child’s permission before posting anything

§ They must not share any materials in which the child’s body is exposed in any way

§ They must consider the potetnial effects of any published materials on the child’s life

What can the child do?

§ They have the right to protest to their pictures being published or shared

§ They can have their pictures removed by the operator of the site

§ In case of serious violation of rights they can also sue for restitution or even damages

Summary

Parents should exercise caution when posting anything about their children on social media or on the internet. Exposing the child’s life or any data may result in serious consequences. If in doubt, one should always seek professional legal – or other – help. Children also have rights to their own pictures and materials that should be respected and protected at all times.

Should you have any questions or need legal help regarding the above topics, feel free to reach out to our office!

Government Decree No. 415/2025 (XII. 23.) on the amendment of consumer protection–related government decrees with a view to ensuring a higher level of consumer protection introduces substantial changes in the field of consumer protection as of 2026.

In this article, we briefly summarise those amendments which will be perceptible to consumers in everyday life and may be of particular practical importance from 2026 onwards.

Government Decree No. 415/2025 (XII. 23.) amends a total of six government decrees related to consumer protection.
The objectives of the amendments are, on the one hand, to strengthen consumer protection and, on the other hand, to reduce the administrative burden on businesses, while also ensuring compliance with EU law and legal harmonisation.

Government Decree No. 448/2025 (XII. 29.) amends Government Decree No. 327/2015 (XI. 10.) on the detailed rules of professional practice related to surveying and cartographic activities for non-cadastral purposes by introducing a new concept and new rules. These amendments will enter into force on 14 January 2026.

The most significant change is the introduction of the concept of the planning base map, the preparation of which now mandatorily requires the setting out of the property boundary.

In practice, the new regulation aims to ensure more uniform, more accurate and, from the perspective of the planning process, more reliable base maps, which may help prevent future conflicts and legal disputes. At the same time, the additional requirements are likely to slow down procedures and increase costs, and stakeholders should be prepared for this impact.

What Do Carriers and Affected Businesses Need to Know?

On 23 December 2025, two new pieces of legislation affecting public roads and freight traffic were promulgated, both of which entered into force on 1 January 2026. The primary objective of the new regulatory framework is to ensure that international and domestic transit traffic is conducted along uniform, legally designated routes, primarily using high-capacity dual-carriageway (2×2 lane) road networks. The regulation serves both to enhance road safety and to reduce the burden on residential areas and secondary roads.

The two relevant legal instruments are: 

• Decree No. 44/2025 (XII. 23.) of the Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM), aimed at defining the Hungarian sections of the transit route network; and

• Government Decree No. 439/2025 (XII. 23.), aimed at curbing freight traffic diverted from expressways.

Opinion leaders, commonly referred to as influencers, have become key actors in modern communication as a result of the rapid expansion of the internet and social media.
The development of digital technologies, the widespread use of smartphones, and the global proliferation of social media platforms—such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch—have fundamentally transformed users’ content consumption habits, as well as their entertainment and purchasing behaviours. As a consequence, influencer marketing has emerged as one of the most significant and fastest-growing tools of the modern advertising market.

By way of an interesting observation, it should be noted that, from a legal perspective, the category of influencers is not limited to natural persons acting as opinion leaders. An influencer may also include a CGI or deepfake character, an animal, or even an object.

The rapid growth of this phenomenon and the intermingling of personal and commercial content on social media platforms primarily justify the need for regulation in this field. For consumers—particularly audiences younger or older than the average user—it is often not clear whether an influencer’s recommendation is based on a paid collaboration, the provision of a gifted product, or another form of material interest.

The Hungarian Civil Code recognises the existence of a domestic partnership in two distinct forms. It sets forth the institution of marriage, which several legal scholars have described in elevated terms as an “emotional and economic alliance,” and it also provides for the possibility of living together without entering into marriage, in the form of a cohabitation (élettársi kapcsolat). The law strictly characterises this latter form as an obligational legal relationship, regulated under Title XXV of the Book on the Law of Contracts.