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Hungarian tabloid defies court ruling over Tisza Party misinformation
A political and legal row has erupted in Hungary after the pro-government tabloid Bors announced it would continue distributing a controversial special edition targeting the opposition Tisza Party, despite a court ruling ordering an immediate halt.
Tabloid to continue spreading misinformation about Tisza Party
According to statements published by Bors and reactions from opposition leader Péter Magyar, the Budapest Metropolitan Court issued an interim injunction on Friday banning the online and print distribution of the newspaper’s so-called “Tisza-package”.
The special edition reportedly focuses on alleged tax and austerity plans attributed to the Tisza Party and was intended to be delivered free of charge to more than four million households across Hungary.
As 24.hu reports, he court argued that the tax proposals published by Bors differed fundamentally from official documents previously released by the Tisza Party. As a result, the judge concluded that the publisher should have been aware that the information was misleading.
It does not fit into press freedom
The ruling stated that the mass distribution of such content would cause significant harm to the opposition party, a level of damage that could not be justified by invoking press freedom. The ban was ordered as an immediate, temporary measure and is enforceable regardless of any appeal.
Following the decision, Bors and Mediaworks, the company behind the paper, strongly criticised the ruling. In a statement, the editorial team described the court’s action as an “unprecedented attack on freedom of speech and the press” and accused it of violating rights guaranteed under Hungary’s Fundamental Law. They claimed the decision was made within half a day, without a substantive examination of the content or an opportunity for meaningful legal remedy.
The tabloid also argued that the company responsible for distributing the special edition had not received a formal ban. On this basis, Bors insisted that distribution would continue “in accordance with the law and in the spirit of press freedom”.
They claimed the judge is biased towards Tisza Party and Péter Magyar
The controversy escalated further when pro-government figures suggested that the judge who issued the ruling shared a name and address with someone listed in leaked data from the Tisza Party’s hacked mobile application.
However, no evidence has been presented to confirm that the judge was connected to the party, and there is no indication that all users of the compromised app were political activists.
Péter Magyar, president of the Tisza Party, responded angrily, calling the continued distribution “cynical and outrageous”. In a statement on social media, he accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s allies and media outlets of openly disregarding court decisions and undermining the rule of law.
Magyar has formally urged Medialog Zrt., the company tasked with distributing the special edition, to suspend delivery immediately. He warned that failure to do so would result in a compensation lawsuit worth billions of forints. He also asked supporters to report any deliveries of the paper from now on.
Democracy and Rule of Law – These concepts do not apply in Hungary. Fidesz and the media organizations it controls operate completely free of any oversight by the justice system. It’s a dictatorship. Fidesz and Bors know and publish what the Tisza Party plans are before the Tisza Party even knows them. The public has started to clue into the fact that it is being fed disinformation and while you can fool some of the people some of the time you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Mind you we are talkiing about Hungary here. The smart people already left.
“Democracy and Rule of Law – These concepts do not apply in Hungary.”
You can say the EXACT same thing about Germany, France, or, more than any, the country in which you live – The United States.
‘Democracy and Rule of Law’ have, sadly, become nothing more than catch-phrases – slim verbal veneers for the creation and perptetuance of Leftist and Globalist power.
Uh. No, @mouton. You cannot. Hungary is pretty unique.
In Hungary, the formal legal framework for campaign and media spending looks relatively strict and regulated on paper. Laws set spending limits for individual candidates, tie public subsidies for parties to how many candidates they field, require all campaign expenses to go through dedicated accounts, and mandate post‑election reporting and oversight by the State Audit Office. Media laws also set rules for political advertising, equal access, and use of public vs. private media during the official campaign period.
In practice, however, the governing side’s communication power extends far beyond these formal limits. Large, state-funded “public information campaigns” (on migration, Brussels, sanctions, etc.) run in parallel to election campaigns, often with clear partisan messaging, but are not counted as party campaign spending. State and government‑friendly media heavily amplify pro‑government narratives, while access to critical media is structurally weaker. Oversight bodies are widely viewed as politically aligned and rarely impose meaningful sanctions, so the legal framework exists but doesn’t effectively constrain the real, asymmetric use of media and money.
Hope this information is helpful?
With or without this publication, we know what Tisza is about: a bunch of paid-for globalist puppets who would flood our streets with third-world rapists, robbers, and parasites, abolish energy subsidies driving our gas and electric costs through the roof, remove profit caps causing an explosion in food prices, and drag us into a world war with Russia.
No, thanks.
“… We know what Tisza is about: a bunch of paid-for globalist puppets who would flood our streets with third-world rapists, robbers, and parasites, abolish energy subsidies driving our gas and electric costs through the roof, remove profit caps causing an explosion in food prices, and drag us into a world war with Russia…”
Absolutely, Herr Steiner.
‘Tisza’ is just a new labeling for the ongoing project for the resurgence of the Kun Béla, Mátyás Rákosi , and Kádár Janós Klan – the rape and pillage of Hungary & Hungarians for the purposes of the transnational power of the Western Elite….
A free, sovereign Hungary, untethered by the likes of the Tyranny of the EU! The dream we all dream!
@michaelsteiner has never been able to answer this question, so … Perhaps you could, @mouton? What are the three benefits of Brexit? For the free and sovereign nation that broke free?
War with Russia?
Nothing wrong with that. Someone needs to close them down.
“War with Russia? Nothing wrong with that. Someone needs to close them down.”
You can go do that now, legally.
Buy a ticket to Western Ukraine and volunteer.
You’ll be hunting Russians with a couple of weeks.
Of course, they will be hunting you…
The controversy is, that how can a judge, that is suspected to be secretly, and illegally part of a party able to rule on a proceeding about that party?
The obvious miscarriage of justice was, that the proceeding was not handled by a judge, who is NOT suspected to have ties with the party.
It is not that hard.
There are other justices in the nation. An impartial and independent judge should have ruled on it, and even now should be revisited by a different judge, who is above suspicion to alleviate the suspicion.
And if one of the sides don’t accept the judge’s impartiality, a different judge is needed.
Again, it is not that hard. Such judges aren’t rare.
We all know this pro-government tabloid is funded by government from tax-payers money. Incredible amount of tax-payers money is constantly being wasted on Fidesz propaganda lies. One big reason why our economy is so bad in Hungary. This wasting of tax-payers money has to stop, and it can only be stopped by ending Fidesz ruling.
Oh?!
You know?!
If you know, that must mean you have evidence. Because of course you wouldn’t throw those accusations around without them, right?
RIGHT?
Just for clarification, I give a 0.001%, that you actually have evidence, and you aren’t just speculating. Expecting people to believe the bullshit, just because you repeat the lies enough. As was in Hitler’s playbook.
I know it wont change your trolling tactics but ok, here is one source saying government spends a lot of tax-payers money on propaganda.
https://hungarytoday.hu/government-fidesz-dominance-campaign-billboard-opposition-election/
A few years old news, but I believe things have not changed. Outsourcing the funding of propaganda may have increased to government close entities to hide the spending. You can and should of course prove me wrong with your sources that prove that government is not anymore spending a lot of money on propaganda.
Incumbent parties using taxpayer money is standard in The United States.
I think Fidesz is thoroughly justified in combating the huge advantages in media that the Hungarian Left has in online sources.
According to Mi Hazank, most Hungarians get their political news at social media sites, like Facebook/Meta.
Those sites use every tactic to prevent the Hungarian Right from successfully reaching Hungarian voters.
Also, there are many EU-funded Hungarian blogs at YouTube – like Partizan and Telex hu – and these sites have large followings – considering how small Hungary is.
So, to counteract all that, Fidesz must use the television, billboards, and placarts and fliers on telephone poles.
Also, what you regard as ‘propaganda’, frequently seems to me to be any Conservative/Nationalist thought.
When I look at Fidesz or Mi Hazank advertisements I think they are telling the unpleasant truth about Modern Leftism, and what a Modern Hungarian Leftist rule, on behalf of The Western Elite, would do to Hungary.
“Also, what you regard as ‘propaganda’, frequently seems to me to be any Conservative/Nationalist thought.”
Nope, I consider propaganda as publishing utter lies, just like this one that you just wrote:
“Also, there are many EU-funded Hungarian blogs at YouTube – like Partizan and Telex hu”
The Hungarian government, led by Fidesz, utilizes an exceptionally high volume of public funds for what is officially labeled “government information,” but which observers argue functions as permanent political campaigning. Independent monitors report that state spending on communication frequently dwarfs the combined budgets of all opposition parties, often by significant multiples. This expenditure creates a constant, high-intensity presence of government narratives across billboards, television, and digital media, ensuring Fidesz messaging dominates the public sphere year-round rather than just during election cycles.
A primary vehicle for this spending is the “National Consultation.” These are state-sponsored, non-binding questionnaires sent to households, ostensibly to gauge public opinion on issues like migration or EU sanctions. The questions are typically framed to validate pre-determined government positions, but the strategic value lies in the accompanying multi-million euro advertising blitz. These campaigns allow the government to blanket the country with political slogans—such as “Stop Brussels”—that are paid for by the national budget rather than Fidesz party coffers.
This mechanism has resulted in a blurring of the line between the state and the ruling party. The themes of government-funded campaigns—national sovereignty, family protection, and opposition to specific foreign entities—align perfectly with Fidesz’s electoral platform. Because these are legally classified as public information campaigns, they bypass campaign finance laws that limit party spending. Consequently, Fidesz benefits from a dual megaphone: its own limited party budget plus the vastly larger resources of the state treasury.
Finally, this spending serves an economic function by sustaining a pro-government media ecosystem. A massive portion of the state advertising budget is directed toward media outlets organized under the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA), a conglomerate of hundreds of pro-government publications and broadcasters. By funneling public ad revenue almost exclusively to these friendly outlets while starving independent media of state contracts, the government financially stabilizes its supportive press while distorting the commercial market for independent competitors.
It is important to note that GenAI consistently offers ‘facts’ that supports Leftist points of view, while, conversely, never supporting any Conservative or Nationalist points of view.
As a reader I never take any information source seriously that consistently parrots a purely Left or Right view, unless that source is openly partisan.
Openly partisan sites are, at the least, honest in declaring their intents.
Therefore, they have some credibility, whether I agree with them or not.