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TikTok now warns users of Hungarian government-related content
TikTok has applied a new warning label to a wide range of Hungarian media outlets and organisations closely linked to the governing Fidesz party, identifying them as “Hungarian state-controlled media”.
The move affects much of the pro-government media landscape on the platform and is intended to encourage users to consider the origin of the content they consume.
TikTok warns users of Hungarian government-related sites
As HVG reported, the label has appeared on the TikTok profiles of several prominent outlets, including Mandiner, Origo, Magyar Nemzet, HírTV, Ripost, as well as numerous regional newspapers owned by Mediaworks. Tabloids such as Bors and Metropol, and even the lifestyle magazine Life.hu, have also been marked. In addition, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), which holds ownership stakes in several of these media organisations, has received the same designation.
Many of the affected accounts have significant audiences, ranging from tens of thousands to several hundred thousand followers. At the time of writing, a few exceptions remain, including Inforádió, which is majority-owned by MCC, and the TikTok page of TV2’s Tények, a news programme that has openly supported Fidesz during recent election campaigns.
The company labelled these accounts with the help of indepentent experts
According to TikTok, the label is applied to accounts where “the government exercises control over the editorial content”. The platform says the warning is designed to help viewers make informed judgements about the source behind the videos they encounter. Importantly, the designation does not restrict the operation of the accounts, and organisations have the option to appeal if they believe the classification is inaccurate.
The Chinese-owned platform, operated by ByteDance, stressed that the decision was not made arbitrarily. TikTok says it works with independent and credible experts when assessing whether a media outlet should be considered state-controlled. While the company has not disclosed detailed information about these experts, it has published general guidelines outlining its methodology.
These guidelines also cover what TikTok describes as indirect forms of government influence. This can include control over content production or distribution, even if there is no direct editorial instruction from state authorities. Such criteria appear to have played a role in the classification of several Hungarian outlets that consistently promote government-aligned narratives.
Hungary is in its own league
The issue has also surfaced in TikTok’s most recent transparency report, published in November. In the report, the platform highlighted a separate case involving Hungary, in which it identified a coordinated network of fake accounts promoting messages favourable to Fidesz.
According to TikTok, the network consisted of 95 accounts operating across multiple online platforms, collectively reaching more than 131,000 followers. These accounts were found to be part of an organised effort to amplify specific political narratives. While TikTok did not explicitly state the outcome for these profiles, the platform typically removes accounts found to be fake or engaged in coordinated inauthentic behaviour, suggesting they were likely taken down permanently.
Could it be a blow to Fidesz before the elections?
The appearance of the state-controlled media label has already sparked debate in Hungary, where the relationship between politics and the media has long been a contentious issue. Critics argue that the government has gradually consolidated influence over large segments of the media market through ownership changes, state advertising, and institutional ties. Supporters of the government, however, often reject such claims and describe the media landscape as pluralistic.
Mediaworks and the Mathias Corvinus Collegium have been contacted for comment regarding the TikTok labels. Questions were raised about whether the organisations were informed in advance, whether they agree with TikTok’s assessment, and whether they intend to appeal the decision. Any responses are expected to shed further light on how the affected outlets plan to react.
For now, TikTok users in Hungary and beyond will continue to see the new warning attached to many of the country’s most influential pro-government media accounts, marking a notable intervention by a global platform into the ongoing debate over media independence and political influence in the country.
The uncomfortable reality for all humans on the Planet Earth is that, no matter what your nationality or political views is that you cannot accept anything at face value, without researching.
And by ‘researching it’ I mean that you daily take the time to find honest and knowledgeable sources.
This process is actually a hard and tedious one, but, over time you will see if your sources were accurate in what they told you.
Foreign language ability helps, too, because it is best to get information about that country from those who either live there, or who lived most of their life there.
Lastly, and most importantly – do NOT carefully filter sources out that do not agree with your world view.
I am Far Right, in my political views, but, every day I listen to people like Dobrev Klara, Juhász Péter, Puzsér Robert, Cseh Katálin, Ungváry Krisztián, Pottyondi Edina etc. etc … people with whom I disagree with at least 50% of the time.
In doing this, I find out many things that people who are on my side of the political spectrum either miss or refuse to talk about.
I see the news in a 360 degree circumference, unlike the 18ö and 9ö degree circumferences many people think is ‘the truth’.
I think “Far Right” these days means largely:
* you have a (real) job
* you are law abiding
* you love your family and your country
* you have common sense
You are so very very right, Dear Michael!
All I am is a smalltown White-Southern guy.
My heroes are George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Francis Marion, John Tyler, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee.
Though I am a convert to Orthodoxy, I was raised in the Anglican Church.
I am a racist, in that I believe in my own people first, but I do respect my fellow Humanity, and our human diversity.
I love women, and have been loved by some, but I have had one for a long time and she means the world to me.
I have never taken her for granted, cheated on her, or ever touched her in anger..
I accept that some people are just born gay, and these people ought be left alone. However, I regard the LGBTQ invasion of our schools as a lynching offence.
I grew up an American patriot, but as Yankee Doodle Dandy has spent my long lifetime spitting at The South, I am, as my ancestors were in the 12860s, and 1770s, and when they came here in the 1630s – a revolutionary secessionist.
I believe in our Southern traditions, starting with Christ, civility and politeness, and I am against race-mixing and any kind of marriage our traditions would frown upon.
I garden, cook, listen to classical, gospel-bluegrass, and heavy metal music.
I do have common sense, and, the reality is that I am a Dixiecrat – or simply a Southern Democrat who was forced out of his party.
Though I am not in the Party of Lincoln, most of my fellow Southerners are. We are the biggest reason why Trump is president, and we were waiting for him even before he knew he was going to run.
Pat Buchanan before him was our guy.
When this country breaks up, a very big reason will be the simple fact that it is not possible to live with Modern Leftists.
Be well!
“I think “Far Right” these days means largely…”
One other thing I’ll say to you, Michael – ‘Far Right’ is just another attempt by the International Corporations, their universities, social media networks, and media channels to intimidate us with names.
This is why I call myself ‘Far Right, as well as’ or anything else they care to invent.
I want them to know that I will not apologize for my ancestors, nor will I make them feel comfortable while they try to destroy my people.
Happy to see that untold millions of my fellow Southerners are coming around to this point of view.
Ah, what a charming little echo chamber. Steiner lists off his “common sense” definition of “Far Right” that bizarrely includes having a job and loving your family, as if those are unique political achievements. And faithful Mouton, ever the toadie, chimes in with his CV of Southern secessionist heroes, gay acceptance with lynching caveats, and claims that he’s the victim of corporate name-calling. They’re so busy congratulating each other on their “revolutionary” politeness and 360-degree news views that they’ve spun themselves into a complete circle, perfectly missing the actual point: a Chinese app is calling out their own government’s propaganda.
😂 The irony is thicker than their shared persecution complex.
TikTok is a Chinese app, riddled with spyware and designed to rot the brain.
It speaks volumes the fact that TikTok is effectively banned in China itself.
Oooohhh. Not a single opening here to talk about “Western Elites”, “The Soros Network”, etc. sending messages to Hungarians that their news stories are coming from government controlled media. A Chinese owned company is doing that. I have to applaud Tik Tok for calling a spade a spade to let Hungarians know they are being brainwashed by propaganda and in many cases it now involves fraudulent AI created images put out by Fidesz.
TicToc experts ar former twitter experts who removed trump from the platform –