Warning: This piece refers to scenes of violence from the start When a video went viral appearing to show a Hungarian soldier's execution, its disturbing nature came as a shock to anyone who saw it. Ahead of pivotal Hungarian elections on Sunday 12 April, the AI-generated, fake clip was posted on the social media accounts of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party in February. It tells the story of a young girl at a window yearning for her father's return home from war, and then the video cuts to him - blindfolded, bound by the hands, and then shot by his captors.
The video targeted Orbán's election rival, Péter Magyar, who could unseat him after 16 years in office. The Fidesz campaign has made unsubstantiated claims about the war in Ukraine and Magyar's intentions, at times using AI-generated videos like this, even though it makes clear the video is fake.
The video is an AI video, but the war is really horrible, the video says. Péter Magyar doesn't want you to see this video. He doesn't want you to see what an irreversible tragedy it is to join a war.
Fidesz alleges that Magyar, from the centre-right party Tisza, will bring Russia's war against Ukraine to its doorstep if elected, even using pension money to support Ukraine and imposing forced conscription. Such narratives have been widely rejected by Magyar and by his party Tisza. In its manifesto, it pledges it will not send troops to Ukraine and does not plan to revive conscription.
We asked ruling party Fidesz whether it had made the AI execution video and why it had posted it on to its social media channels, but the party has not responded to our questions. In an interview with a journalist posted to Facebook, Támas Menczer, who is communications director of the Fidesz-KNDP alliance, responded to a question about the AI video saying he believed the greatest possible danger is that Hungarian people could die if Tisza wins, because Tisza supports the war, Tisza supports sending money. However, he did not comment on the video being made with AI.
Magyar has condemned the video stating that Fidesz crossed all limits, and called the video heartless manipulation. Zsófia Fülöp, a journalist at Hungary's only dedicated independent fact-checking website, Lakmusz, says while such narratives from the ruling party are not new, the use of generative AI is. It is omnipresent in this campaign, especially in the communication of the ruling party and its media and proxies. They've used it before but now it's massive.
The strategy does not appear to have had much of an impact on voters, with Magyar leading in most opinion polls. Social media posts by Fidesz's allies have parroted similar anti-Ukrainian narratives. Last month the National Resistance Movement (NEM) - a pro-Fidesz political activist group - shared a video made using AI that depicts a phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Péter Magyar discussing sending money to Ukraine, which was viewed more than 3.7 million times.
Magyar called it out as fake, but the video had already been shared widely by pro-government media as well as Fidesz politicians, including the prime minister. In his post, Orbán stated that the video had been AI-generated but warned it could become a reality. We asked NEM why they had posted the AI video and whether they had made it, but they did not comment.
Hungary had better relations with Ukraine in the past, and even backed Ukraine's bid to join the EU until late 2023, but relations deteriorated as Orbán maintained close ties to Russia's Vladimir Putin. A survey by research institute Policy Solutions suggests the level of anti-Ukrainian feeling in Hungary is barely lower than anti-Russian sentiment, with 64% of Hungarians holding a negative opinion of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, and 67% disliking Putin. One side holds all the cards, says researcher Éva Bognár. Fidesz has infinite resources at its disposal: from public funds, state agencies and offices to a media conglomerate that operates as a propaganda machine, including the public service media. Despite this, Magyar's posts on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram receive twice the level of engagement of Orbán's. He portrays himself as a younger and more relatable leader, showing him partying, playing volleyball, and enjoying water sports. However, he has also engaged in milder forms of misleading rhetoric, including inaccuracies about Hungarian babies born outside of the country.
Fidesz clings to its anti-Ukrainian narrative, in both traditional media and online. If Fidesz wins, we will see the same disinformation tactics being used beyond the election, says Krekó. But if it doesn't win, there will be a more tumultuous relationship between the media and politicians.\
The video targeted Orbán's election rival, Péter Magyar, who could unseat him after 16 years in office. The Fidesz campaign has made unsubstantiated claims about the war in Ukraine and Magyar's intentions, at times using AI-generated videos like this, even though it makes clear the video is fake.
The video is an AI video, but the war is really horrible, the video says. Péter Magyar doesn't want you to see this video. He doesn't want you to see what an irreversible tragedy it is to join a war.
Fidesz alleges that Magyar, from the centre-right party Tisza, will bring Russia's war against Ukraine to its doorstep if elected, even using pension money to support Ukraine and imposing forced conscription. Such narratives have been widely rejected by Magyar and by his party Tisza. In its manifesto, it pledges it will not send troops to Ukraine and does not plan to revive conscription.
We asked ruling party Fidesz whether it had made the AI execution video and why it had posted it on to its social media channels, but the party has not responded to our questions. In an interview with a journalist posted to Facebook, Támas Menczer, who is communications director of the Fidesz-KNDP alliance, responded to a question about the AI video saying he believed the greatest possible danger is that Hungarian people could die if Tisza wins, because Tisza supports the war, Tisza supports sending money. However, he did not comment on the video being made with AI.
Magyar has condemned the video stating that Fidesz crossed all limits, and called the video heartless manipulation. Zsófia Fülöp, a journalist at Hungary's only dedicated independent fact-checking website, Lakmusz, says while such narratives from the ruling party are not new, the use of generative AI is. It is omnipresent in this campaign, especially in the communication of the ruling party and its media and proxies. They've used it before but now it's massive.
The strategy does not appear to have had much of an impact on voters, with Magyar leading in most opinion polls. Social media posts by Fidesz's allies have parroted similar anti-Ukrainian narratives. Last month the National Resistance Movement (NEM) - a pro-Fidesz political activist group - shared a video made using AI that depicts a phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Péter Magyar discussing sending money to Ukraine, which was viewed more than 3.7 million times.
Magyar called it out as fake, but the video had already been shared widely by pro-government media as well as Fidesz politicians, including the prime minister. In his post, Orbán stated that the video had been AI-generated but warned it could become a reality. We asked NEM why they had posted the AI video and whether they had made it, but they did not comment.
Hungary had better relations with Ukraine in the past, and even backed Ukraine's bid to join the EU until late 2023, but relations deteriorated as Orbán maintained close ties to Russia's Vladimir Putin. A survey by research institute Policy Solutions suggests the level of anti-Ukrainian feeling in Hungary is barely lower than anti-Russian sentiment, with 64% of Hungarians holding a negative opinion of Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, and 67% disliking Putin. One side holds all the cards, says researcher Éva Bognár. Fidesz has infinite resources at its disposal: from public funds, state agencies and offices to a media conglomerate that operates as a propaganda machine, including the public service media. Despite this, Magyar's posts on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram receive twice the level of engagement of Orbán's. He portrays himself as a younger and more relatable leader, showing him partying, playing volleyball, and enjoying water sports. However, he has also engaged in milder forms of misleading rhetoric, including inaccuracies about Hungarian babies born outside of the country.
Fidesz clings to its anti-Ukrainian narrative, in both traditional media and online. If Fidesz wins, we will see the same disinformation tactics being used beyond the election, says Krekó. But if it doesn't win, there will be a more tumultuous relationship between the media and politicians.\
