Author: Lakmusz, member of HDMO
Until the elections in April, we closely monitor social media and traditional media, with a particular focus on disinformation related to the elections and false or misleading content spread by the candidates. This is our sixth weekly digest of the digital trends shaping the campaign period.
If this is Russian interference, it doesn’t seem all that scary so far
As we reported last week, it appears that the Russians are already in the room, ready to ensure the widespread dissemination of disinformation in the Hungarian election campaign. But is that really the case? Following campaigns in Moldova and Germany, the Russian-backed Matryoshka bot network, which spreads disinformation, has now launched an operation in the Hungarian election campaign, according to a report by the Russian investigative portal The Insider. Their information comes from Bot Blocker/Antibot4Navalny, a group specializing in monitoring Russian disinformation.
Bot Blocker initially identified five videos originating from Matryoshka, but The Insider only described their content and format; they did not disclose on which platforms or to what extent they had spread. And then, Lakmusz received links via email to X posts containing the five videos, and it is likely that Matryoshka sent them as part of their distribution strategy.
But how effective is this tactic? Does it really work? Well, we checked the videos and found that the fake stories have not gone viral or reached a mass audience in Hungary yet. Bot Blocker observed the same thing.
“The fake news is mainly posted on three platforms: X, TikTok, and Telegram, typically from profiles belonging to real people but that have been hijacked, and which are permanently taken offline after one or two videos or images are posted,”
Bot Blocker/Antibot4Navalny explained to Lakmusz, adding that it’s irrelevant that most of Matryoshka’s posts on X have around 100,000 views. This is because these views are most likely not organic, but artificially inflated (for example, using click farms).
Does Ukraine really need you?
On Sunday, March 15, the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution, both Fidesz and the Tisza Party held demonstrations. Several reports claimed that a banner appeared in the march of Tisza featuring the portraits of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Péter Magyar, with the caption: “Ukraine needs you!” The banner was presented as if it was a gesture of support from the Tisza Party toward Ukraine and President Zelenskyy.
However, we found that the display of the Zelenskyy-Magyar banner was most likely not an initiative of the Tisza Party, as the exact same poster was displayed by unknown individuals at another Tisza Party march held on October 23, 2025, and at the time Tisza volunteers tried to prevent its unveiling.
We found other misleading reports about the marches; notably, the Hungarian Tourism Agency estimated the crowd size of both marches based on mobile network data, and the government-controlled media presented the Agency’s figures as official, precise data. But we explained why they are not.
Fidesz’s AI campaign on TikTok has really taken off
A young girl, an elderly professor, a soccer fan, Miklós Zrínyi, and Péter Magyar, who has been injected with “truth serum” are pushing anti-Tisza messages in AI videos on newly created TikTok accounts. We identified a total of 17 high-reach TikTok channels, all launched in March, where various AI personas convey pro-government and anti-Tisza messages.
We began monitoring these accounts on March 17, at which point all 17 were still active. However, as of the publication of our article, six of these accounts are no longer available on TikTok. Their content still reached tens of thousands of people.
You remember that electoral district where Fidesz’s candidate is Justice Minister Bence Tuzson, and where Facebook pages of unknown origin are running paid ads promoting the local candidates of the Democratic Coalition and the Two-Tailed Dog Party against the Tisza Party’s candidate, right? Well, we have identified yet another fake video and more ads targeting Facebook users in that district. Meanwhile, Political Capital found yet another Facebook page supporting the Justice Minister (there are 9 such pages in total), which was created on March 5; it has no posts but has already launched five ads. These promote three AI-generated videos, all of which attack the Tisza candidate.
The reason behind the skyrocketing fuel prices
Péter Magyar wrote in at least four Facebook posts that fuel has become much more expensive due to the tax burden that has multiplied over the past 16 years of Orbán’s governments.
However, this is only partially true, as we found. Changes in taxes have indeed increased fuel prices, but they are not solely responsible for the drastic rise in costs. Based on gasoline prices published by the European Commission, contrary to Magyar’s specific claim, we do not pay 200 HUF more in taxes per litre of gasoline than in 2010, but roughly 100 HUF.
That’s all for today, see you next Friday. Stay tuned, share this article and tell us what you think!
Cover Photo: Annamari Dezső/Lakmusz