The Hungarian government has accused tech giant Meta Platforms of interfering in the country’s parliamentary election, alleging that its social media platform Facebook is skewing visibility in favor of opposition leader Peter Magyar while limiting the reach of content associated with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The accusations come just days before Hungary’s closely watched election, intensifying an already charged political atmosphere in Budapest. Government officials argue that algorithmic bias on Facebook is influencing voter perception by amplifying opposition messaging while suppressing pro-government content.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told Politico that the platform’s algorithm is “basically working against the government parties.” According to Kovacs, the disparity lies in how Facebook treats official government pages compared to personal public profiles. He claims that Orban’s official page faces stricter advertising limitations and reduced organic reach, while Magyar benefits from operating a personal “public figure” account that allegedly enjoys greater algorithmic flexibility.

“These structural differences in how accounts are categorized and managed result in unequal campaigning conditions,” Kovacs argued, suggesting that the imbalance could influence the outcome of the vote.

A report by the Brussels-based think tank MCC Brussels appears to support some of the government’s concerns. The analysis found that although video content posted by Orban and Magyar achieved similar view counts, engagement metrics-such as likes, shares, and comments-were significantly higher for Magyar’s posts. In some cases, the opposition leader’s content........

© Blitz