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Fidesz, which has consistently outspent its political rivals in the digital arena, may soon see its competitive edge erode as Meta plans to suspend all political advertising on Facebook and Instagram across the European Union from this autumn.
The EU’s updated Political Advertising Regulation, passed in March 2023 and set to apply from October 10, requires all political ads to include clear disclosures, including who paid for them, the intended audience, and which election the ad is related to.
The company cited "unworkable complexity and legal uncertainty" under the bloc’s new transparency rules for its decision to block all political ads across its platforms in EU member states.
The decision is expected to hit Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party particularly hard, as it had heavily relied on Meta’s ad ecosystem. The restriction removes a central pillar of Fidesz’s digital strategy, which has relied on Facebook’s unmatched reach and microtargeting capabilities to reinforce its political dominance.
Hungary’s ruling party stepped up its presence in digital space after an unexpected setback in the 2019 local government election, losing Budapest and other key cities to the opposition.
According to political think tank Political Capital, in the five months leading up to last summer’s EU and municipal elections, Hungary’s ruling party spent a whopping HUF3.4bn (€8.6mn) on Facebook alone, vastly more than any rival.
Even in the nine months following the vote, the ruling party accounted for HUF1.1bn of the HUF1.3bn spent in total by Hungarian actors, some 84% of all ads.
Meanwhile, opposition forces remain constrained by limited resources. The fragmented nature of their messaging and smaller reach on Meta’s platforms contrasts sharply with the coordinated and well-funded ecosystem supporting the Orban government.
The disparity underscores Fidesz’s dominance in Hungary’s online campaign landscape, although experts note that its effectiveness is fading.
Despite dominating Hungary’s media landscape and turning state media into a mouthpiece of the government, Fidesz’s social media presence has faced growing backlash, with posts swarmed by critical comments.
Analysts attribute Prime Minister Viktor Orban's decision to strengthen the party’s digital presence with the launch of an online digital army in May to changing EU rules. The grassroots social media network dubbed "Fighters’ Club" is tasked with waging ideological battle against Peter Magyar’s surging Tisza Party and other critics online. Digital recruits are expected to follow daily instructions from the government’s communications centre to amplify pro-government narratives online.
The prime minister, in his keynote address on Saturday, announced the launch of Digital Civic Circles intended to counterbalance the opposition’s online momentum by building a loyal virtual community around Fidesz. Critics argued that the new movement will complement the Fighter’s Club to target less radical Fidesz supporters.
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