Mertek Media Monitor

Outsourced Political Campaign: Role of Pro-Government Political Influencers in Spreading Hostile Narratives in Hungary | Article | Media and Communication Kata Horváth, Gábor Polyák, Ágnes Urbán

Our new paper has been published in @cogitatiomac.bsky.social. The paper is about Megafon which is a Hungarian political influencer group, a typical example for state sponsored disinfo.

Hungarian public media’s close cooperation with key Chinese media revealed after Átlátszó successfully sues for contracts – English Hungarian public media has promised extremely close cooperation to its Chinese partners in several contracts.

The Hungarian government constantly talks about sovereignty, while the Hungarian ‘public service’ media cooperates with Chinese state propaganda.

27 EU member states mean 27 policy environments to deal with #disinformation . On top of that, there is the EU policy that applies in all member states. We had a country-by-country look in this EDMO report. edmo.eu/wp-content/u...

Hungary: Foreign funding bill poses most serious threat to independent media in years – ipi.media A newly introduced bill which would allow for the blacklisting, financial restriction and potential closure of media outlets and civil society organisations receiving foreign funds poses a severe…

🇭🇺#Hungary: A 'foreign agent'-style bill which would allow blacklisting, financial restriction & closure of media receiving foreign funds poses a severe threat to independent journalism & #pressfreedom & should be condemned and challenged under EU law👇

buff.ly/LZjBYFF

No Country Was Built On Blacklists — Civilizáció joint statement of independent civil society organisations and media outlets 14 May 2025 - The draft law submitted by the ruling party on Tuesday is nothing but an authoritarian attempt to hold on to...

"Democracy, public participation and social action do not threaten Hungary's sovereignty - rather the government threatens Hungarian democracy" - joint statement of Hungarian civil society organizations and independent media outlets

Statement Alhambra Press, jointly with another Hungarian media company, file a State aid complaint against Hungary.

+1: statement of Magyar Hang, incl. the link to the complaint and the economic analysis. hang.hu/info/stateme...

The investigation into Mertek's complaint is still ongoing. We hope that the two documents together will convince @ec.europa.eu that action must be taken against illegal state aid to the Hungarian media on the basis of competition law. 2/2

Hungary accused of illegal subsidies for pro-government media Viktor Orbán faces scrutiny over his tightening grip on critical voices

"Viktor Orbán’s government is being accused of handing more than €1bn in unlawful subsidies to pro-government media (...)" A new complaint has been submitted to DG COMP regarding the market-distorting effect of state advertising. 1/2 on.ft.com/4lOTeLB

Agnes Urban, director of Mertek Media Monitor published a paper about the Hungarian media capture (The Restructuring of the Hungarian Media System). The pdf is downloadable. cjssp.uni-corvinus.hu/index.php/cj...

HDMO, the Hungarian member of the @edmo-eu.bsky.social hub has a conference today in Budapest with full house. Fight against disinformation is really an issue here.

Innovation Fair in Budapest for local media sustainability. Brilliant event organized by Center for Sustainable Media and @mediadiversity.bsky.social, supported by @ec.europa.eu. With @erdelyip.bsky.social

The Future of Disinformation – (Geo)political, Technological Trends and Countermeasures’ Conference

HDMO, the Hungarian member of @edmo-eu.bsky.social is organising a conference on the project's achievements so far and on further possible tools to combat disinformation. The event will take place in Budapest on April 2. politicalcapital.hu/news.php?art...

Goulash: Blacklist Compiled by Orbán’s Intelligence Agency; Russia's Meddling in Germany - VSquare.org The far-right is rising in Poland, while Viktor Orbán has been turning up the heat on his own radical agenda in Hungary—seasoning his rule with yet another alarming far-right shift. Our main scoop thi...

💥 Viktor Orbán’s intelligence agency is compiling a blacklist of so-called foreign agents, NGOs, and media outlets that received support from the US and the EU—whom Orbán has labeled "stink bugs" and vowed to "eliminate."

🍲This and more scoops in @vsquare.bsky.social's latest Goulash newsletter.

YouTube video by Direkt36 A dinasztia (The Dynasty) - így született az Orbán család gazdasági birodalma

"The Dynasty" documentary of @direkt36.bsky.social has just reached 3.5 million views. The film shows how Viktor Orbán's family became billionaires over the past three decades. English subtitle is available. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ4S...

🤯After Viktor Orbán called his opponents “stink bugs” and talked of getting rid of them, news site Telex asked President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok to comment. In response, the president’s comms director labeled Telex journalists "degenerates" / "defects" and posted a photo of a stink bug. Seriously.

Hungary: IPI warns of fresh crackdown on independent media The International Press Institute (IPI) today warns of a looming crackdown by the Hungarian government on independent media in the country, in the wake of recent incendiary comments by Prime Minister…

#Hungary: IPI today warns of a looming crackdown by the government on independent media, in the wake of recent incendiary comments by PM Orbán in which he vowed to eliminate all media outlets & other organisations that have received foreign funding.

"Already reeling from the impact of the huge funding cut resulting from the USAID freeze, it is unclear where civil society organizations and independent media across Central and Eastern Europe go from here."

Easter Purge? Orbán Sets Deadline to Crush Independent Media and Civil Society - VSquare.org Since coming to power in 2010, Orbán has gradually yet systematically restricted the space for independent voices, largely following the Russian model. With Donald Trump taking office and U.S. funding...

Good summary of how Sovereignty Protection Office targeted investigative journalism center Átlátszó and the anti-corruption organization Transparency International Hungary.