AI videos fuel rhetoric as Orbán bids for four more years in Hungary

AI-Driven Campaigns Intensify Political Rhetoric as Orbán Seeks Re-election in Hungary

A chilling AI-generated video sparked widespread attention, depicting a Hungarian soldier’s execution that left viewers stunned. The clip, which emerged in early February, was strategically shared by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party ahead of the April 12 elections, aiming to sway public opinion. It portrays a young girl watching from a window as her father returns from war, only for the scene to shift to him bound, blindfolded, and shot by captors. This narrative was crafted to undermine Orbán’s election rival, Péter Magyar, whose potential rise to power after 16 years in office could challenge the ruling party’s dominance.

Fidesz has long circulated unverified claims about Hungary’s role in the Ukraine conflict, accusing Magyar of supporting the war and planning to draw it closer to home. The party’s social media campaigns have increasingly relied on AI-generated content, such as the execution video, to amplify these assertions. “The video is an AI creation, but the war’s brutality is real,” it declares, suggesting Magyar seeks to hide the grim reality of military involvement. The clip frames the opposition as endorsing Russia’s aggression, even as it warns of dire consequences for Hungarians if they lose.

Magyar and his party, Tisza, have consistently rejected such allegations, emphasizing their pledge not to deploy troops to Ukraine and to avoid reinstating conscription. Despite this, Fidesz’s propaganda persists, with allies on social media repeating similar attacks. The National Resistance Movement (NEM), a pro-Fidesz group, recently shared an AI video showing a fabricated conversation between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Magyar, where he supposedly agrees to fund Ukraine. The clip, viewed over 3.7 million times, was captioned to imply Magyar lacks resolve in the face of pressure. NEM did not label the video as AI-generated, leaving its authenticity in question.

In a separate incident, Hungarian anti-terrorism police detained seven Ukrainian bank workers during a transit with $80 million in cash and 9kg of gold. The group, associated with Oschadbank, claimed it was conducting routine business between Austria and Ukraine. The government, however, alleged the funds were intended to support pro-Ukraine forces, accusing the workers of money laundering. Though the detainees were released without charges, the episode fueled further claims of foreign financial ties to the war effort.

A Strategy of Disinformation

Éva Bognár, a researcher at the Central European University’s Democracy Institute, describes the campaign as a “state of hallucination,” noting how the entire election season has been shaped by a false narrative of impending conflict. “The use of generative AI has amplified this disinformation,” she adds, highlighting the ruling party’s reliance on synthetic content to distort public perception. Magyar, meanwhile, has labeled the execution video as “heartless manipulation,” accusing Fidesz of crossing ethical boundaries in its efforts to secure votes.

In a Facebook interview, Támas Menczer, communications director of the Fidesz-KNDP alliance, defended the AI video, asserting that Tisza’s support for the war could endanger Hungarians. He did not address whether the video itself was artificially created, focusing instead on the perceived threat of the opposition’s policies. As the election approaches, the strategic use of AI remains a key tool in shaping the discourse, even as its impact on voter sentiment remains unclear.