Do Facebook bans really affect 500,000 Hungarians?

Facebook plays a key role in communication and public debates in all parts of the world, including Hungary. The American tech giant’s moderation practice, however, is regularly targeted by critics, a survey says.

According to VG, it is hard to support the opposing standpoints with empiric data in the different debates since most people do not have such information. Based on a 2019 survey representing the adult Hungarian population and done by the Institute of Information Society at the National University of Public Service,

10.1 pc of Hungarian Facebook users remember

at least one case when the company suspended their account or deleted one or more of their posts.

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People least affected by Facebook bans are those who have a school-leaving exam but do not obtain a degree (5.8 pc). Meanwhile, this number is higher among those who only finished 8 classes (14.7 pc). 36.5 pc of those who the company banned or deleted their comments appealed and asked for the abolishment of Facebook’s decision. However, 43.5 pc of the users did not remember receiving any answer to their message while 30.4 pc said that the company decided in their favour and, for example, restored their account.

Based on the results of the survey, 78.4 pc of Hungarian adults regularly use the internet and 79.3 pc check their Facebook at least once a month. That means that the target group of the American tech giant is at least 4.9 million people in Hungary, Péter Nádori, a researcher at the university, said in a blog post.