On April 12, voters in Hungary participated in national elections.
CEE Digital Democracy Watch previously monitored the Hungarian information space during the 2024 European Parliament elections, including analysis of digital advertising expenditure to assess spending patterns across countries in the region.
During the current electoral cycle, our organisation contributed to the Rapid Response System coordinated by the European Commission as a part of Code of Practice on Disinformation. This mechanism enables monitoring organisations to notify major online platforms, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, and Google, of content, accounts, or coordinated activity that may pose risks to electoral integrity or breach platform policies.
CEE DDW’s monitoring activities focused on the identification of large-scale, potentially coordinated dissemination of AI-generated content. Particular attention was given to material that could constitute election interference, promote misleading narratives, include hate speech, or incite violence.
Through our work in the activation period of the Rapid Response System, a total of 25 accounts on Meta were flagged, supported by evidence comprising 1,579 posts. In parallel, 32 accounts on TikTok were reported, associated with 1,536 posts.
Platform responses indicated that a significant share of the reported content was reviewed, with some instances found to be in violation of applicable terms of service. This resulted in measures such as content removal or reduced visibility. By way of illustration, in one case the reporting contributed to the removal of 11 accounts and the further review of three additional accounts.
Further information on platform actions is available through publicly accessible transparency resources, such as TikTok’s Covert Influence Opertations reports and Global Election Hub, as well as through media coverage.
In addition, CEE DDW provided technical and methodological support to the Free Vote Foundation, an independent and non-partisan civic initiative focused on electoral transparency and integrity in Hungary. Nine social media monitoring reports were published during the campaign period and are available online.
The findings generated through this work are intended to inform and support other organisations in the region in the context of upcoming electoral cycles. The development and implementation of these activities are supported by the Wacław Felczak Institute, Watchdog Polska as part of the Civitates Wybory group, and the Fundusz Obywatelski im. Ludwiki i Henryka Wujców.