Ahead of the EU elections on June 9, a flood of misinformation, amplifying the Hungarian government’s main talking points on the war in Ukraine, has flooded the country’s social media platforms.
Content creators affiliated with Hungary’s opaque Megafon Center have been distributing a stream of well-crafted video clips online.
Megafon was founded in 2020 with a mission “to amplify the voice of the right and counterbalance the dominance of the left-wing mainstream on the internet,” according to its website.
But critics say it has become the latest mouthpiece for nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, amplifying narratives while sweeping away criticism of the government and, most recently, the EU.
Since the start of the year, Megafon has poured more than 650 million forints ($1.8 million) into promoting its content on Facebook, according to estimates from the platform’s owner Meta.
According to AFP, no other political party in the EU spent as much as Megafon in the same period.
While some clips accuse European leaders of “wanting a nuclear war”, others suggest that women could soon be forced to produce weapons in factories and children could be sent to the front lines.
Several videos also include comments from French President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine and his proposed debate on the role of the country’s nuclear arsenal in Europe.
But Macron’s comments were taken out of context and distorted to portray European leaders as wanting “a third world war”.
An advocate for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia and the Kremlin’s closest EU ally, Orban has characterized the upcoming European Parliament elections as a referendum on the war, saying he was now “fighting only for peace” in the bloc .
– ‘Seemingly infinite’ financing –
During Orban’s fourteen years in power, Hungary’s media landscape has been transformed, with the public media long a government mouthpiece and large parts of the private media sector in the hands of pro-government allies.
But the nationalist leader still had to win the electoral support of younger urban citizens, who increasingly turned online, including for news.
In the aftermath of the opposition’s surprise victory in the capital Budapest and other larger cities in 2019, Megafon was born.
“Huge amounts of money were poured into dominant social media platforms,” as if Megafon had “seemingly infinite” resources, Kata Horvath of the Mertek Media Monitor watchdog told AFP.
Unlike other influencers with “grassroots support,” Megafon content creators “owe the majority of their views to advertising,” she explained.
The source of Megafon’s financing remains unclear.
In recent weeks, Megafon has spent “so much money that I can’t imagine a Hungarian who hasn’t seen them in his Facebook feed,” said analyst Robert Laszlo of the Political Capital think tank.
Megafon says it is funded by private donors and rejects accusations from independent media that it involved taxpayers’ money channeled through various organizations.
In the past, Megafon’s director Istvan Kovacs, a former Fidesz candidate, said the center has “no formal relations” with any political party.
Megafon did not respond to an interview request from AFP.
– ‘Digital freedom fighter’ –
According to expert Laszlo, Megafon is simply “another tool for the government” to “convey the ruling party’s core messages louder and more simplistically.”
“Excerpts from real speeches and videos are manipulatively edited to appeal to emotions” to “forge hostile narratives, where there is always someone to blame,” he said.
Through Megafon’s clips, Orban’s Fidesz wants to reach more Hungarians who don’t follow politics closely “but can still be convinced to lean towards the party,” Laszlo added.
In addition to the costly political campaigns, Megafon offers free four-day training for anyone who wants to become a ‘right-wing digital freedom fighter’.
According to the center, more than a thousand people have already followed the training.
Among them are dozens of Fidesz candidates who are running for the local elections on June 9, a recent survey by AFP partner Lakmusz showed.
In early May, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto praised Megafon’s efforts at a public event organized by the center, calling on them to “fight a fierce online battle” in the coming weeks.
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