Online safety & content laws in Honduras (2026)
Online safety rules in Honduras: partial.
Honduras lacks a comprehensive online safety or content-moderation law. Applicable rules are limited to cybercrime provisions embedded in the 2019 Penal Code and CONATEL's executive-decree-expanded mandate over digital media and social networks. A proposed cybersecurity law with platform takedown obligations was approved by a parliamentary commission in 2018 but has never been fully enacted, and as of 2025 remains stalled amid strong civil-society and press-freedom opposition.
Legal framework
Penal Code cybercrime provisions (Decree 130-2017, effective 2019); CONATEL expanded digital-media mandate; proposed National Cybersecurity Law (not yet enacted)
Key points: internet & online safety in Honduras
Penal Code Cybercrime Rules
Title XXII of the Penal Code (Decree 130-2017, effective November 2019) criminalises illegal system access, data interference, unauthorised interception of communications, computer fraud, and online child-exploitation content, the primary in-force layer of digital-conduct regulation.
Proposed Cybersecurity Law (Not Enacted)
A National Cybersecurity Law passed a special parliamentary commission in February 2018; it would require platforms to remove 'offensive' content within 24 hours of a complaint, with no judicial order required, and allow CONATEL to block non-compliant services. The bill was halted in its second legislative debate and had not been enacted as of 2025.
CONATEL Expanded Digital Mandate
An executive decree expanded the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to create a new department overseeing printed media, digital media, and social networks, beyond its traditional broadcast remit. Civil society and press groups warn this concentration of authority lacks adequate legal safeguards against censorship.
No Platform Liability or Age-Verification Regime
Honduras has no domestic safe-harbour or intermediary-liability framework for online platforms, and no enacted age-verification requirements for social media or adult content, placing it in line with most of Latin America, which has no equivalent to the EU's DSA or U.S. Section 230.
Personal Data Protection Law in Progress
A draft Law for the Protection of Confidential Personal Data, modelled partly on the GDPR, was under congressional discussion in 2024, with initial chapters approved; a full enacted regime was not yet in force as of early 2025, leaving data protection reliant on constitutional privacy rights and sector-specific CNBS rules.
Surveillance and Self-Censorship Climate
The 2011 Special Law on Interception of Private Communications authorises government interception of online and telephone messages; Freedom House's 2025 report notes this power, combined with violence and intimidation against journalists and activists, produces significant online self-censorship.
Sources
- cyberpolicyportal.org/states/honduras
- dig.watch/updates/cybersecurity-act-honduras-tackled-content-regulation
- hrw.org/news/2018/04/09/honduras-cybersecurity-bill-threatens-free-speech
- accessnow.org/honduras-new-bill-threatens-curb-online-speech/
- medialandscapes.org/country/honduras/policies/media-legislation
- contracorriente.red/en/2022/10/15/executive-decree-on-media-raises-concerns-over-honduras
- consortiumlegal.com/en/2024/08/29/the-challenges-of-the-new-personal-data-protection-law-
- dataguidance.com/notes/honduras-data-protection-overview
- whitecase.com/publications/insight/latin-america-focus-fall-2022-intermediary-liabi
- freedomhouse.org/country/honduras/freedom-world/2025
- ethicalhackinglatam.com/leyes-sobre-delitos-informaticos-en-honduras/
- latamjournalismreview.org/articles/press-advocates-warn-that-social-networks-and-honduran-digit
Next for Honduras: CybersecuritySectoral rules
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026