Warning: This piece refers to scenes of violence from the start
A disturbing video appearing to depict the execution of a Hungarian soldier recently went viral, shocking viewers with its graphic content.
The AI-generated, fake clip was posted on the social media accounts of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in February, ahead of Hungary’s pivotal elections on Sunday, April 12.
The video portrays a young girl longing for her father’s return from war, followed by a scene of him blindfolded, with his hands bound, before being shot by his captors.
The video is understood to be targeting Orbán’s election rival, Péter Magyar, who poses a challenge to his 16-year hold on power.
The Fidesz campaign has made unsubstantiated claims regarding the war in Ukraine and Magyar’s intentions, at times employing AI-generated videos, despite acknowledging their artificial nature.
“The video is an AI video, but the war is really horrible,” the video states. “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, representing the center-right Tisza party, would bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to Hungary’s doorstep if elected, potentially using pension funds to support Ukraine and imposing forced conscription.
Magyar and his party, Tisza, have firmly rejected these narratives. Their manifesto pledges against sending troops to Ukraine and states there are no plans to reinstate conscription.
Requests for comment from the ruling Fidesz party regarding the AI execution video and its posting on social media channels have gone unanswered.
In a Facebook interview, Támas Menczer, communications director of the Fidesz-KNDP alliance, addressed the AI video, stating his belief that “the greatest possible danger is that Hungarian people could die if Tisza wins, because Tisza supports the war, Tisza supports sending money.”
However, he refrained from commenting on the video’s AI origins.
Magyar has strongly condemned the video, accusing Fidesz of crossing all boundaries and labeling it “heartless manipulation.”
Zsófia Fülöp, a journalist at Lakmusz, Hungary’s only dedicated independent fact-checking website, notes that while such narratives from the ruling party are not new, the use of generative AI marks a shift.
“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 appears to have had limited impact on voters, with Magyar leading in most opinion polls.
Social media posts by Fidesz’s allies have echoed similar anti-Ukrainian sentiments.
Last month, the National Resistance Movement (NEM), a pro-Fidesz political activist group, shared an AI-generated video depicting a phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Péter Magyar discussing sending funds to Ukraine.
The video garnered over 3.7 million views.
“When the phone rings and a request comes, then he won’t be able to say no,” the caption read. NEM did not disclose the video’s AI origin.
Magyar denounced the video as fake, but it had already been widely shared by pro-government media and Fidesz politicians, including Prime Minister Orbán, who acknowledged its AI-generated nature while warning it could become reality.
NEM did not respond to requests for comment on the AI video and its creation.
“We’re in a state of hallucination,” says Éva Bognár, a researcher at the Central European University’s Democracy Institute. “In a way the whole campaign is a disinformation campaign because it’s all based on a complete false narrative that we’re on the brink of war.”
In another instance, Hungarian anti-terrorism police arrested seven Ukrainian bank workers transiting through the country with $80 million (£60 million) in cash and 9kg (20lb) of gold, claiming they were in cash-transport vehicles en route to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha accused the Hungarian government of holding the group hostage and stealing money.
Ukraine’s state savings bank, Oschadbank, stated they possessed a valid license and the journey was a routine transfer between Austria and Ukraine.
The Hungarian government alleged money laundering and suggested the funds might “finance pro-Ukraine forces.”
Although the Ukrainian bank workers have been released without charges, authorities have yet to return the money and gold.
Pro-government outlets used AI images to report on the arrests on Facebook, presenting hyper-realistic images as factual representations of the event.
Comparisons with images and videos of the event posted on the Hungarian government’s official Facebook page reveal significant discrepancies, including inaccuracies in the officers’ uniforms and the Ukrainian individuals’ clothing.
Facebook’s third-party fact-checking service has labeled the post as “partly false.”
Hungary previously maintained better relations with Ukraine, even supporting its EU membership bid until late 2023. However, relations deteriorated as Orbán maintained close ties with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
A survey by the research institute Policy Solutions indicates that anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Hungary is almost as high as 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.”
Magyar is navigating this challenging media landscape partly through social media.
According to 20k, a Hungarian election integrity watchdog, Magyar’s posts on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram receive twice the level of engagement as Orbán’s.
Magyar’s posts include professional content alongside images portraying him as a younger and more relatable leader, showing him at parties, playing volleyball, flipping burgers, and enjoying water sports.
However, the Tisza leader has also engaged in milder forms of misleading rhetoric, including inaccuracies regarding the number of Hungarian babies born outside the country, seemingly aimed at evoking a sense of lost national pride.
He has even accused Fidesz of wanting to reintroduce compulsory military service, mirroring the ruling party’s tactics.
Aside from brief mentions by two Fidesz politicians in 2016, there is no evidence that the party intends to revive compulsory military service.
Péter Krekó, head of the independent political research institute Political Capital, notes that Magyar has also been able to “exploit… strong public resentment” towards the government.
This sentiment is largely driven by people between the ages of 18 and 40.
A survey by the Median agency indicates that support for Tisza is strongest among those under 40, while nearly half of people over 65 support Fidesz.
Despite this, Fidesz continues to promote its anti-Ukrainian narrative, both in traditional media and online, with posters depicting Zelensky and Magyar together under the warning “They are dangerous!”
According to Krekó, a Fidesz victory would mean continued disinformation tactics beyond the election, while a loss would lead to a “more tumultuous relationship between the media and politicians.”
These events occur a week before the polls, following warnings about potential operations staged to influence voters.
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