Hungary Election: Virtual Smear Tactics Alive and Well on Facebook

As far as who runs the page and what the source of the money that was used to buy the Facebook ads on it, BIRN/Telex has been unable to find out officially. All that can be gleaned from Facebook's public database is the number of Hungarian users who have administrative privileges to the page (there are three of them) and a phone number, an email address and a website through which they can be reached - supposedly. This reporter's attempts to contact the administrators of the "Nem is Jámbor" page based on the information provided - by phone, text or email - were all in vain.

Although this particular Facebook page, which concentrates on discrediting Jámbor, stands out in many ways and is probably the most striking example of the phenomenon of such pages campaigning against opposition candidates, it is far from being the only one. By monitoring primarily political Facebook ads, BIRN/Telex has identified a total of 45 pages campaigning along similar lines during the run-up to the election.

A map of Hungary's parliamentary constituencies that are affected by this phenomenon

Together, these pages cover 42 different parliamentary constituencies - i.e., 37 per cent of the country's 106 constituencies. What these pages all have in common is that they invariably push pro-Fidesz narratives and that, despite a public database of Facebook ads that is designed to ensure transparency, it is impossible to know who exactly is behind them, who is maintaining them and - crucially - who is funding them.

This is adding to further worries about the free and fair nature of the April 3 election, which will pit Viktor Oban's Fidesz against the joint six-party opposition, called United for Hungary, in what is expected to the closest election since 2010....