Fidesz Dominates Hungarian Election Campaign with Record Social Media Spending

The Hungarian election campaign leading up to the 2024 parliamentary elections has been marked by a pronounced imbalance in political advertising spending, particularly on social media platforms.

This phenomenon has been underscored in a recent investigation by the independent think tank Political Capital, funded by the European Media and Information Fund, which confirms earlier observations regarding the lack of a level playing field in Hungarian elections.

Unbalanced Political Ad Spending

The investigation reveals a striking disparity in political advertising expenditure between the pro-government camp, led by Fidesz, and the opposition parties. From 31 December 2023 to 1 June 2024, the pro-government faction, including Fidesz and its associated groups, spent €4.3 million on Meta and Google ads. In stark contrast, the combined expenditure of all 14 opposition parties and their media affiliates amounted to merely €839,000.

Fidesz alone allocated €2.0 million to political advertising, a sum 2.6 times greater than the total spent by all opposition parties combined, which was €764,558. The campaign also saw substantial contributions from third-party organisations supporting Fidesz, notably the Government-Organised Non-Governmental Organisations (GONGOs) Megafon and Civil Union Forum, which together spent an additional €2.3 million. By comparison, opposition proxies expended a paltry €74,530.

Role of Media and Third-Party Organisations

The state-affiliated media also played a significant role, spending €1.8 million on advertising. This expenditure was not exclusively political but still dwarfed the €46,648 spent by independent media outlets. The overall level of online political advertising in Hungary is remarkable even by European standards. Fidesz emerged as the top advertiser on Google in the EU this year, with six of the ten most promoted videos. On Meta, Megafon ranked 10th, and Fidesz 12th, in terms of political ad spending within EU countries during the period from 14 April to 13 May.

Disinformation and Narrative Control

A key aspect of the campaign has been the promotion of hostile disinformation narratives. Fidesz and its proxies accounted for 98.6% of the total €2.0 million spent on these narratives, leaving a mere 1.4% to the opposition. This approach effectively outsourced much of Fidesz’s negative campaigning to third-party entities, with proxies spending €1.6 million on hostile narratives against political opponents, compared to Fidesz’s direct expenditure of €397,137.

Targeted Narratives

The investigation identified three primary hostile narratives dominating the campaign:

1. Targeting Péter Magyar: The newly emerged opposition candidate Péter Magyar was the focus of the most promoted hostile narrative, which accounted for 46% of the total spending on such narratives.
2. War in Ukraine: The second most promoted narrative, accounting for 34% of spending, revolved around the war in Ukraine. It suggested that “European pro-war politicians and their Hungarian servants want to start World War III.” This narrative gained traction as the elections drew closer, overshadowing other narratives.
3. Anti-Government Forces: The third most significant narrative, accounting for 9% of spending, accused anti-government forces of serving foreign interests.

The Hungarian election campaign leading up to the 2024 parliamentary elections has been marked by a pronounced imbalance in political advertising spending

Implications for the EU and NATO

The findings underscore the extent of social media dominance by Fidesz, rendering the political contest in Hungary significantly one-sided. This dominance highlights the broader issue of state-sponsored information manipulation within the EU and NATO.

The prevalence of anti-Western, pro-Kremlin disinformation is consistent with previous studies indicating that Fidesz MEPs often act as “soft defenders” of Russia and other authoritarian regimes in the European Parliament.

Despite the political and reputational risks, these MEPs engage in pro-Kremlin discourse, often abstaining from voting on Russia-related issues and, increasingly, voting against resolutions condemning the Kremlin.

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