Orbán's Fidesz bypassing Meta's political advertising rules, researchers warn | Euronews

## Summary
By&nbsp Estelle Nilsson-Julien &nbsp&&nbsp Tamsin Paternoster Published on 08/04/2026 - 18:30 GMT+2 • Updated 18:52 Share Comments Share Facebook Twitter Flipboard Send Reddit Linkedin Messenger Telegram VK Bluesky Threads Whatsapp Meta blocked political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in October, but misinformation researchers warn that the ban has pushed political ads by Orbán's Fidesz underground. Disinformation researchers are warning that Hungary's ruling party, Fidesz, and its proxies are bypassing a ban on political advertisements across Meta platforms, ahead of the country's national elections scheduled for 12 April. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to research by the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, "there is a real risk that the Hungarian election campaign and other upcoming campaigns will be influenced by a significant number of illicit political ads — including deepfakes — with a huge reach." Tech giant Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned all political, electoral and social advertisements on its EU platforms in October 2025, citing "unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties", while Google has also opted to stop showing political ads in the EU. Disinformation researchers say that while the October ban has led to a reduction in the prevalence of active ads from major political advertisers, Fidesz and its allies are still managing to use paid-for political advertisements, accompanied by enforced difficulties in tracking them. "Fidesz and entities connected to the party have still managed to run many ads that can be clearly characterised as political on Meta's platforms", Szilárd Teczàr, editor of the Hungarian fact-checking site, Lakmusz, told Euronews' verification team, The Cube. "Meta relies on the goodwill of the actors to declare if an ad is political," he said. "They remove or stop ads retroactively.

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By&nbsp
Estelle Nilsson-Julien
&nbsp&&nbsp
Tamsin Paternoster
Published on
08/04/2026 - 18:30 GMT+2
•
Updated
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Meta blocked political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in October, but misinformation researchers warn that the ban has pushed political ads by Orbán's Fidesz underground.
Disinformation researchers are warning that Hungary's ruling party, Fidesz, and its proxies are bypassing a ban on political advertisements across Meta platforms, ahead of the country's national elections scheduled for 12 April.
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According to research by the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, "there is a real risk that the Hungarian election campaign and other upcoming campaigns will be influenced by a significant number of illicit political ads — including deepfakes — with a huge reach."
Tech giant Meta
, which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned all political, electoral and social advertisements on its EU platforms in October 2025, citing "unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties", while Google has also opted to stop showing political ads in the EU.
These measures were introduced as a response to the
EU's updated political advertising rules
, which came into effect in the same month, through the regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA).
The TTPA stipulates that political adverts "at EU, national and local level" must be "clearly labelled" and, for instance, stipulate "who paid for them, their costs, and — when targeting or ad delivery techniques are used — the specific audience which is being targeted."
Unlike a regular social media post, a Meta political advertisement is a paid message on Facebook or Instagram that promotes a party or message to a pre-determined specific user group selected by the buyer.
It includes a "paid for" disclaimer and is stored in Meta's Ad Library for at least seven years.
Disinformation researchers say that while the October ban has led to a reduction in the prevalence of active ads from major political advertisers, Fidesz and its allies are still managing to use paid-for political advertisements, accompanied by enforced difficulties in tracking them.
"Fidesz and entities connected to the party have still managed to run many ads that can be clearly characterised as political on Meta's platforms", Szilárd Teczàr, editor of the Hungarian fact-checking site, Lakmusz, told Euronews' verification team, The Cube.
"Meta relies on the goodwill of the actors to declare if an ad is political," he said. "They remove or stop ads retroactively. In October and November, many ads could run for a week or even more. Evidence does show that Meta is getting better; in many cases, they remove the ad within a day or maximum a few days."
Teczàr explained that the ads are shared by Fidesz politicians through official Facebook pages, but more often than not, they are spread by proxy organisations that are clearly connected to the governing party and spread the same messaging.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán salutes the audience during a pre-election rally in Budapest, Hungary, 7 April 2026.
Denes Erdos/Copyright 2026 The AP. All rights reserved
One example is the National Resistance Movement — a pro-Fidesz political activist group and NGO — which has ties to Megafon, an opaque pro-government organisation, which spent more than €1.7 million on promotional content on Facebook in 2024.
"They have repeatedly posted AI-generated videos, mostly attacking the opposition Tisza party, which they have advertised predominantly on Facebook, reaching millions of views in some cases", said Teczàr, citing a video which was shared in late December with clear political messaging.
The video, which ran as an active advertisement on Meta's platforms, featured members of a family unwrapping gifts labelled "TISZA", only to find political messages pop out of the boxes that misrepresent the opposition's campaign.
The Hungarian hub against disinformation also flagged what appeared to be a harmless cartoon upon first glance. The animation featured a group of animals living on the banks of the Tisza River, who received a warning from a fox, concerning an alleged upcoming property tax that would supposedly be imposed by the Tisza party.
Such ads, although affiliated with the government's messaging and promoting a political message, are not clearly labelled as belonging to the ruling party.
For example, the policy research institute Political Capital in Budapest found multiple ads were classified under non-political labels, for example, as "business" and "finance".
The think tank said that between January and February, researchers identified 457 political advertisements running on Meta's platforms from pages linked to Hungarian political actors.
It said 456 were linked to Fidesz-affiliated politicians and organisations, whilst researchers identified n

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to research by the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, "there is a real risk that the Hungarian election campaign and other upcoming campaigns will be influenced by a significant number of illicit political ads — including deepfakes — with a huge reach." Tech giant Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned all political, electoral and social advertisements on its EU platforms in October 2025, citing "unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties", while Google has also opted to stop showing political ads in the EU.

### Areas for Consideration
- ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to research by the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, "there is a real risk that the Hungarian election campaign and other upcoming campaigns will be influenced by a significant number of illicit political ads — including deepfakes — with a huge reach." Tech giant Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned all political, electoral and social advertisements on its EU platforms in October 2025, citing "unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties", while Google has also opted to stop showing political ads in the EU.

### Implications
- ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to research by the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory, "there is a real risk that the Hungarian election campaign and other upcoming campaigns will be influenced by a significant number of illicit political ads — including deepfakes — with a huge reach." Tech giant Meta , which owns Facebook and Instagram, banned all political, electoral and social advertisements on its EU platforms in October 2025, citing "unworkable requirements and legal uncertainties", while Google has also opted to stop showing political ads in the EU.
- These measures were introduced as a response to the EU's updated political advertising rules , which came into effect in the same month, through the regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA).
- In October and November, many ads could run for a week or even more.
- For example, the policy research institute Political Capital in Budapest found multiple ads were classified under non-political labels, for example, as "business" and "finance".

### Expert Commentary
This article covers political, ads, meta topics. Notable strengths include discussion of political. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1339.