6. Country Analysis: Honduras

6.1 Political and Legal System

The regulatory and political framework of Honduras is based on its Constitution of 1982 (with its respective reforms), which defines the country as a free, democratic, sovereign and independent republic (Art. 1). Its form of government is republican, democratic and representative, based on the inalienable principle that sovereignty resides essentially in the people, from which all state powers emanate (Art. 2). The exercise of public power is structured under a system of division of powers, which are complementary, independent and without relations of subordination to each other: the Legislative Power, exercised by the National Congress; the Executive Power, headed by the Presidency of the Republic; and the Judicial Power, whose highest hierarchy corresponds to the Supreme Court of Justice (Art. 4).

In the political-electoral sphere, the Honduran legal system recently underwent a profound institutional restructuring aimed at strengthening the transparency and integrity of elections. This reform separated administrative functions from jurisdictional ones, eliminating the former Supreme Electoral Court to give way to two specialized bodies. On one hand, the National Electoral Council (CNE) was established, an autonomous body responsible for the organization, direction and technical and administrative supervision of elections. On the other hand, the Electoral Justice Court (TJE) was created, established as the highest jurisdictional authority to settle controversies in the matter. This new democratic architecture was consolidated normatively with the promulgation of the Electoral Law of Honduras (Decree 35-2021)¹⁰⁸, which regulates the functioning of the CNE and the governing rules of the electoral process.

Beyond the three traditional powers, the institutional design of the Honduran state includes a series of oversight bodies and decentralized entities that are fundamental to the defense of citizens' rights. The specific protection of fundamental guarantees falls constitutionally on the National Commissioner of Human Rights (CONADEH), created under Article 59 of the Magna Carta with the mandate to guarantee the observance of human rights and protect citizens from abuses of public power. Additionally, control of state resources is supervised by the Superior Court of Accounts.

Finally, this institutional framework is complemented by entities of vital importance for the governance of the country's communicational and digital environment. Among them stands out the Institute of Access to Public Information (IAIP), a guarantor body of the right to know and state transparency (Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information), and the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the regulatory entity responsible for administering the radio spectrum, granting concessions and coordinating telecommunications and internet regulations in the national territory. Together, these bodies configure the administrative and institutional scenario in which policies on human rights, technological regulation and public deliberation are debated in Honduras.

6.2 Freedom of Expression and Human Rights

The Honduran Constitution guarantees the free emission of thought through any means of dissemination without prior censorship (Art. 72), although with exceptions as prior censorship can be established by law "to protect the ethical and cultural values of society, as well as the rights of people" particularly infancy, adolescence and youth (art. 75).

It is established that the direction of the media and their "intellectual, political and administrative orientation" must be exercised exclusively by Hondurans by birth (art. 73). The same article establishes that printing workshops and communication media cannot be confiscated or closed for crimes in the emission of thought and article 74 states that the right of emission of thought cannot be restricted by indirect ways or means, including abuse of official or private controls over the media used to disseminate information.

Art. 76 of the Constitution guarantees the right to honor, personal, family privacy and one's own image, limits to freedom of expression. Art. 77 establishes freedom of worship "provided that they do not contravene laws and public order, but prohibits ministers of diverse religions from engaging in any type of public propaganda. The freedoms of association and assembly are guaranteed "provided that they are not contrary to public order and good morals" (art. 78), as well as manifestation and assembly (art. 79), although the same article establishes that "outdoor meetings and those of a political nature may be subject to a special permission regime with the sole purpose of guaranteeing public order." Art. 80 establishes the right of petition.

Art. 100 establishes the inviolability and secrecy of communications, except by court order and art. 182 establishes a Habeas Data right that includes the right of individuals to access information about themselves contained in databases, public or private records, and also the rights to update, correct or amend it. Despite the mention of these rights related to data protection, the country does not have specific legislation on the matter.

Despite the guarantees contained in the Honduran Constitution, challenges persist. International reports point to risks to press freedom, including intimidation and violence against journalists. According to Reporters Without Borders, Honduras ranks 142 out of 180 with a score of 38.51, improving slightly compared to the previous year.¹⁰⁹

Another challenge pointed out by this organization is the purchase of large media by international investors and small media by the local political class, combined with other media already being owned by religious entities and other entrepreneurs, which endangers media pluralism in a country where, says the report, "media bias is palpable. Independent journalism is also threatened by dependence on institutional advertising and the excessive use by officials of the right of reply. Journalists also have problems accessing non-government-aligned information sources.

The Penal Code has been subject to debate for maintaining figures that could criminalize speech. Although efforts have been made to decriminalize defamation in favor of civil proceedings, slander and libel remain present with penalties that can include imprisonment or fines, however, journalists can still be prosecuted for defamation and sometimes sentences are accompanied by professional disqualification. The Penal Code¹¹⁰, in force since 2020, also penalizes manifestation and assembly and opens the door to the imposition of fines not only to journalists but to those who reproduce their writings, endangering the right to seek, receive and impart ideas and opinions freely, provided for in international treaties.

The privacy of communications is inviolable (Art. 100 Constitution) and can only be intervened by court order. However, the Special Law on Intervention of Private Communications (Decree 243-2011)¹¹¹ has generated particular concern as it regulates this procedure for criminal investigation, creating the Unit for Intervention of Communications (UIC). Its critics argue that it facilitates police wiretapping of citizens without adequate safeguards, endangering people's privacy.¹¹² RSF also denounces that this climate has worsened in the pre-electoral context leading up to the 2025 presidential elections.¹¹³

Organizations like digital rights have reported that the use of bots in the country in order to influence the vote is used by all major political parties. The presence of fake news sites with clear bias in favor of one party or another is also evident and the use of social networks to spread manipulation and misinformation campaigns is common.¹¹⁴

6.3 Digital Environment

Honduras shows growth in connectivity, although a significant digital divide persists. The Government Digital Plan of Honduras' own government mentions that the country lags behind in electronic government indicators (position 155 in the UN 2022 index).

According to recent data (2024), internet penetration is around 65.9% (Honduras Verifica) with approximately 7 million active users (DIGER). Mobile connectivity exceeds 8 million connections, being the main means of access.

The panorama of connectivity in Honduras is also strongly conditioned by the structure of its telecommunications market and limitations in the quality of available infrastructure. The mobile services sector operates in a highly concentrated manner, historically dominated by two large transnational companies (Tigo and Claro), which has limited competitiveness and maintained data plan costs relatively high in relation to the population's per capita income.

Added to this is that, according to Ookla's Speedtest Global Index (2024) international measurements, the country usually ranks in the last places in Latin America in terms of average connection speeds, both in fixed broadband and mobile. This combination of high cost and poor speed drives the vast majority of users to depend almost exclusively on prepaid plans and zero-rating commercial practices (which offer "free" or unlimited use of specific social networks such as WhatsApp or Facebook).

While such a dynamic facilitates a basic level of communication, it fragments the browsing experience, de facto violates the principle of network neutrality and traps citizens in limited information ecosystems, which aggravates their vulnerability to misinformation by making it difficult for them to exit to the open web to contrast sources or verify news.

6.4 Digital Platforms Available in the Country

Regarding social networks, approximately 4.55 million active users are estimated at the beginning of 2024, with strong presence of platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. TikTok has positioned itself as one of the networks with the highest growth and reach.¹¹⁵

In Honduras there are 4.39 million social media users; of which 52.9% are women and 47.1% are men.¹¹⁶ The most widely used social networks are TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Linkedin. These platforms are widely used both for personal communication and for the dissemination of information and political propaganda. Advertising campaigns typically use Messenger (also owned by Meta, like Facebook or Instagram), Tik Tok and Facebook itself.¹¹⁷

6.5 Legislative and Regulatory Context in Honduras

6.5.1 Constitutional Framework

The Constitution of the Republic of Honduras lays the fundamental foundations for the exercise of freedom of expression and press, rights that today face the challenge of their balanced application in the digital ecosystem. Article 72 guarantees that "the emission of thought is free through any means of dissemination, without prior censorship". This open and technologically neutral formulation naturally extends constitutional safeguard to digital platforms and social networks. Likewise, Article 73 establishes strong material protection by prohibiting that communication media or its elements and infrastructure be confiscated, confiscated or closed due to faults in the emission of thought. In turn, Article 74 prevents indirect restriction of these freedoms through abusive state controls.

Furthermore, privacy and informational self-determination find their safeguard in Article 182, which consecrates the Habeas Data action, a vital guarantee in the context of data collection by technological platforms.

However, the constitutional framework presents exceptions that configure a challenge for online environments: Article 75 establishes that the law may fix prior censorship in order to "protect the ethical and cultural values of society, as well as the rights of people, especially of infancy, adolescence and youth". This clause, by the breadth and ambiguity of its moral terms, represents a latent risk for digital governance, as it could be used to justify blockages, filters or restrictions on internet content under discretionary criteria, straining freedom of expression.

6.5.2 Legislation on Telecommunications and Media

The telecommunications and communication media sector in Honduras is regulated by the Telecommunications Sector Framework Law, promulgated by Decree 185-95.¹¹⁸ This legislation comprehensively regulates services, the administration of the radio spectrum and creates the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) as the supreme regulatory body of the sector. The law establishes a clear taxonomy, classifying services into carriers, finals, value added and broadcasting. This normative architecture is complemented and operationalized through the General Regulation of the Framework Law, which develops in depth this classification of services and outlines the specific powers of CONATEL.

In terms of freedom of expression and press, Honduras is governed by the Law on Emission of Thought¹¹⁹, a 1958 regulation that maintains its validity in everything that does not contravene the Constitution currently in force in the country.

Article 2 of that law reaffirms the fundamental right to investigate, receive and disseminate information by any means of expression. In accordance with constitutional precepts, the law establishes material safeguards (Article 3) and provides legal protection to journalists, protecting them even during states of siege (Article 4).

However, the Honduran regulatory framework presents evident tensions with modern human rights standards. For example, Article 6 explicitly prohibits the circulation of publications that "preach dissolving doctrines that undermine the foundations of the State or of the family", a highly ambiguous formulation. Additionally, the law maintains anachronistic controls, such as the prohibition of the use of pseudonyms in publications (Article 26) and the veto to foreigners for directing means of expression (Article 30).

6.5.3 Specific Regulation on Platforms and/or Content Regulation

Honduras' legal framework currently does not have a specific and comprehensive legislation designed for the regulation of social media platforms. Therefore, the most direct legal instrument on the provision of online services is the Internet Service Regulation or Access to Computing Networks.¹²⁰ This regulation declares internet access as a public service of priority and great national interest, formally classifying it within the category of "value-added service". Its main objective is to ensure that the provision of this service is efficient, continuous and without interruptions, establishing the technical requirements, the use of protocols and the general regulations that internet service providers (ISPs) must strictly comply with to operate within Honduran territory.

A fundamental characteristic of this regulation is the breadth with which it defines the scope and modalities of the network to adapt to the digital environment. According to Article 11 of the regulation, internet services extend far beyond classical web browsing, explicitly including in its normative coverage "multimedia and hypermedia content applications, animations, video on line" and, in general, "Information Society Services".

To sustain this ecosystem, the law requires companies to operate under free competition and guarantee optimal quality connection at affordable rates. As a control mechanism, operators must measure and report semi-annually to CONATEL specific technical parameters, such as connection speed (bandwidth), latency and packet loss.

In the field of protection and content control, the regulation imposes concrete duties on both providers and end users. At the technical level, it requires ISPs to implement hardware and software systems to protect the integrity of the network and restrict spam.

At the user level, Article 30 (letter b) explicitly prohibits performing "illegal and/or immoral activities" that go against good morals, while Article 38 (letter c) bans the use of infrastructure to disseminate viruses, send unsolicited mail or issue insulting and slanderous messages. However, in the midst of these prohibitions, it is vital to highlight that in the Honduran legal framework there is no clear legal exemption scheme that protects platforms against user-generated content.

Finally, beyond the technical, operational and behavioral control provisions, the regulation stands out for its approach to inclusion and closing the digital divide. The law integrates guidelines for the universalization of services through the social cooperation program "Internet for All - Connection to the World".¹²¹ Under this mandate, there is an obligation for telecommunications operators to contribute to the country by providing free internet access in rural, urban-marginal and historically underserved areas. With this socially impactful measure, the Honduran state seeks to ensure that technological expansion and access to information equitably benefit all of society, thus promoting the educational, social and economic development of the most vulnerable populations.

In the commercial sphere, the Law on Electronic Signatures¹²² grants legal validity to electronic messages and digital signatures. Complementarily, the Consumer Protection Law addresses virtual environments and is pioneering in the treatment of accession contracts or "Terms and Conditions". Article 69 declares null and void abusive clauses that restrict consumer rights or allow the company to unilaterally modify the contract.¹²³

6.5.4 Legislation on Data Protection and Privacy

In the Honduran legal framework there is no General Law on Personal Data Protection applicable to the private sector nor a specialized independent Data Protection Authority. However, the human right to Habeas Data enshrined in Article 182 of the Constitution empowers citizens to access, update and correct inaccurate personal information in public or private databases.

In public administration, the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information (Decree 170-2006)¹²⁴ protects confidential data in the custody of the State, with the Institute of Access to Public Information (IAIP) being the guarantor of this protection.

It should be reiterated that the State approved a Special Law on Intervention of Private Communications, which, as already mentioned, regulates procedures under court order to intercept digital communications in the prosecution of crimes.

6.5.5 Specific Regulation for Protection of Vulnerable Groups

Although Honduras does not have a law dedicated exclusively to digital violence or digital rights of vulnerable groups, there are sectoral regulations that address these risks.

The Internet Service Regulation¹²⁵ contains provisions to address online exploitation: its Article 38, letter e, explicitly prohibits the creation or distribution of obscene information and categorically bans the reproduction or distribution of child pornography through networks. For its part, the Consumer Protection Law protects human dignity by prohibiting advertising or actions that attack the honor or image of users (Article 20) and requiring fair and dignified treatment (Article 67).

6.5.6 Digital Electoral Regulation

Honduras' democratic ecosystem has modernized its mechanisms through the Electoral Law of Honduras (Decree 35-2021).¹²⁶ This order regulates propaganda by subjecting digital environments to the same time and content restrictions as traditional media, and sanctions "anonymous propaganda" in communication media, seeking to prevent covert campaigns.

Honduran legislation does not typify specific cyber-electoral crimes; instead, Article 310 of the Electoral Law expressly establishes that ordinary justice is responsible for knowing the crimes committed in elections, being the general criminal law that must typify such crimes and impose penalties. Disputes over campaign infractions on platforms fall under the supervision of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

6.6 Alignment with UNESCO Guidelines: Honduras

The analysis of the normative and institutional framework of Honduras, contrasted with UNESCO's Guidelines for the governance of digital platforms, reveals an ecosystem with structural gaps and significant regulatory lag.

While the Constitution of the Republic establishes a theoretical guarantor base by prohibiting prior censorship and enshrining the inviolability of communications and Habeas Data, the operability of these rights in the digital environment clashes with anachronistic regulations, legal gaps and an institutional design that is not consistent with a multistakeholder approach and due diligence in human rights promoted at the international level.

In terms of freedom of expression and content restriction, the Honduran regulatory framework presents evident tensions with the "high threshold" required by UNESCO (based on the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality). On one hand, the Constitution itself, in its Article 75, opens the door to prior censorship under broad and ambiguous justifications such as the protection of "ethical and cultural values". On the other hand, the validity of the 1958 Law on Emission of Thought maintains incompatible prohibitions with modern standards, such as the veto to the use of pseudonyms—which directly contradicts international defense of anonymity online to protect dissenting voices and journalists—and the censorship of "dissolving doctrines".

In addition, the persistence of crimes against honor (slander and libel) in the Penal Code generates a severe deterrent effect on public debate and journalism on social networks, moving away from UNESCO's recommendation to decriminalize expression.

With respect to specific governance of digital platforms, Honduras lacks legal incentives for platforms to establish transparent, fair and predictable mechanisms for content moderation and user appeals. Instead, online behavior is regulated sectionally through CONATEL's Internet Service Regulation, which imposes on users extremely vague prohibitions—such as not performing "immoral" activities or contrary to "good morals"—that facilitate arbitrariness and lack the analytical rigor required by international human rights law.

Data protection and institutional design represent another critical point of misalignment. Honduras does not have a General Law on Personal Data Protection applicable to the private sector, nor an independent National Data Protection Authority. Tolerated commercial practices, such as zero-rating ("free" access to certain social networks), which fragment network neutrality and trap users in information bubbles, making it difficult to verify data on the open web and catalyzing misinformation. Added to this are legitimate concerns about the Special Law on Intervention of Private Communications, which lacks robust counterweights against state surveillance.

Finally, in the field of democratic integrity, the country has taken steps to adapt its legislation through the 2021 Electoral Law, which subjects digital programming to the same rules of times and contents as traditional media and prohibits "anonymous propaganda" to mitigate the use of bot farms and fake accounts. However, these measures focus on sanctioning local political actors and users, but do not impose statutory obligations of transparency, assessment of systemic risks or accountability on the platforms themselves. Together, Honduras faces the enormous challenge of transitioning from a fragmented, punitive and analog regulatory ecosystem towards a comprehensive digital governance framework that empowers the user and demands due diligence from technology companies without compromising the fragile state of press freedom in the country.