November 21, 2023 at 09:43AM
Hungarian media has been heavily focused on three topics: arms deliveries, EU sanctions, and ethnic minorities, according to researchers analyzing thousands of articles. The researchers found that the narratives in Hungarian media matched those of Russian propaganda publications. Machine learning (ML) was used to analyze the articles, and the results aligned with the manual analysis. The researchers aim to create a dataset for further analysis and track how messages change over time.
Based on the meeting notes, here are the key takeaways:
1. Hungarian media narratives largely align with Russian propaganda: Researchers Benjamin Novak and Martin Wendiggensen found that Hungarian media narratives were consistent with Russian propaganda publications. This alignment began in mid-September 2021, well before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
2. Increase in coverage of specific topics: From fall 2021 onwards, Hungarian media significantly increased their coverage of three main topics: arms deliveries, EU sanctions, and mistreatment of ethnic minorities by Ukraine. These topics consistently followed a specific narrative pattern.
3. Use of machine learning for analysis: Wendiggensen trained a machine learning (ML) model to analyze Hungarian media articles. The ML model independently identified the same top three topics as Novak’s manual analysis, suggesting that ML can reliably detect disinformation campaigns.
4. Lack of media pluralism in Hungary: Pro-Russian messages were able to gain traction in Hungarian media due to limited media pluralism. The current Hungarian government exerts control over reporting through state-owned media companies and coordination of pro-government media outlets.
5. Future research plans: The researchers plan to expand their analysis to include video content from Hungarian TV stations. They also aim to analyze transnational reporting on pan-European right-wing networks and consider political representatives’ dissemination of anti-European narratives. Ultimately, they aim to create a dataset that other researchers can analyze.
Overall, these meeting notes highlight the alignment of Hungarian media with Russian propaganda, the use of machine learning for analysis, the impact of limited media pluralism in Hungary, and future research directions.