Ahead of the EU elections on June 9, a deluge of misinformation amplifying the Hungarian government’s main talking points about the war in Ukraine has flooded the country’s social media platforms.
Content creators affiliated with Hungary’s opaque Megafon Center are behind a series of well-crafted music videos distributed online.
Megafon was created in 2020 with the mission of “amplifying the voice of the right and counterbalancing the dominance of the left-wing mainstream on the internet”, according to its website.
But critics say he has become the latest mouthpiece for nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, amplifying its narratives and criticizing those who criticize the government and, more recently, the EU.
Since the beginning of the year, Megafon has invested more than 650 million forints ($1.8 million) in promoting its content on Facebook, according to estimates from the platform’s owner, Meta.
No other political party in the EU spent as much as Megafon in the same period, according to AFP.
While some videos accuse European leaders of “wanting 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 featured comments from French President Emmanuel Macron on the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine and his proposal for a debate on the role of the country’s nuclear arsenal in Europe.
But Macron’s remarks were taken out of context and distorted to portray European leaders as wanting “a third world war”.
A supporter of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia and the Kremlin’s closest EU ally, Orbán characterized the upcoming European Parliament elections as a referendum on war, saying he now “fights alone for peace” in the bloc.
– ‘Seemingly infinite’ funding –
During Orbán’s 14 years in power, Hungary’s media landscape has been transformed, with public media outlets long mouthpieces for the government and large swathes of the private media sector owned by pro-government allies.
But the nationalist leader still had to win the electoral support of younger urban citizens, who were increasingly turning online, including for news.
In the wake of the opposition’s surprise victory in the capital Budapest and other larger cities in 2019, Megafon was born.
“Immense amounts of money have been invested in dominant social media platforms” as if Megafon had “seemingly infinite” resources, Kata Horvath of watchdog Mertek Media Monitor told AFP.
Unlike other “popularly supported” influencers, Megafon content creators “owe most of their opinions to advertising,” she explained.
Megafon’s source of financing remains unclear.
In recent weeks, Megafon “has spent so much money that I can’t imagine a Hungarian who hasn’t seen them on their Facebook feed,” said analyst Robert Laszlo of the think tank Political Capital.
Megafon claims it is funded by private donors, rejecting independent media claims that taxpayers’ money channeled through various organizations was involved.
In the past, Megafon 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 “transmit the main messages of the ruling party in a louder and more simplistic way”.
“Pieces of real speeches and videos are edited in a manipulative way to appeal to emotions” in order to forge “hostile narratives, where there is always someone to blame,” he said.
Through Megafon clips, Orbán’s Fidesz aims to reach more Hungarians who don’t follow politics closely, “but who can still be persuaded to lean towards the party”, Laszlo added.
In addition to its expensive political campaigns, Megafon offers free four-day training courses to anyone who wants to become a “right-wing digital freedom fighter.”
More than a thousand people have already taken the training courses, according to the center.
Among them are dozens of Fidesz candidates running in the June 9 local elections, an investigation by AFP partner Lakmusz recently revealed.
In early May, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto praised Megafon’s efforts at a public event organized by the center, urging them to “fight a fierce online battle” in the coming weeks.
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