{"id":5291,"date":"2022-02-22T07:39:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T07:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/?p=5291"},"modified":"2025-06-11T07:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T06:42:00","slug":"a-hungarian-fact-checker-in-partnership-with-the-european-commission-and-afp-soros-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/2022\/02\/22\/a-hungarian-fact-checker-in-partnership-with-the-european-commission-and-afp-soros-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hungarian fact-checker in partnership with the European Commission and AFP: Soros\u2019 shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article first published by\u00a0<\/em>OJIM\u00a0<\/em>on 14 February, 2022.<\/em><\/p>\n

On 26 October, 2021, Hungarian leftist-liberal online media\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0reported that\u00a0Magyar Jeti Zrt.<\/em>\u00a0[the company behind\u00a0444.hu<\/em>, ed.] was going to launch a fact-checking site with the support of the European Commission and in collaboration with AFP.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Soros networks and methods behind this project,<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In 2020, the European Commission created a European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), the purpose of which is to coordinate in Member States the centres and editorial teams in charge of fact-checking, and of \u201cscientific research regarding the spreading of fake news and disinformation, as well as strengthening organisations concerned with advocating for the conscious consumption of media content as well as educating the general public in this matter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In Hungary, this EU project will manifest through the sites\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0and its partner\u00a0Qubit.\u00a0<\/em>They will be the only ones to decide on what is\u00a0fake news<\/em>\u00a0or not. Ferenc Hammer, head of the\u00a0Media Univerzalis Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny<\/em>\u00a0(Media Universalis Foundation<\/em>) will be in charge of this project\u2019s research coordination.\u00a0According to the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Media Universalis Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny received $11,700 from the Soros Foundations. In 2018, Ferenc Hammer, in charge of the Media and Communication Department at ELTE University in Budapest,\u00a0was described by one of his students as a teacher who did not hide his political opinions and spoke openly in class about an \u201cOrbanian dictatorship\u201d and praised the RTL Klub channel, which is opposed to the Hungarian government policies and belongs to the German press group Bertelsmann, as being the last pillar of Hungarian democracy.<\/p>\n

Open Society on all levels<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On\u00a0Magyar Jeti Zrt<\/em>\u2019s Board of Directors sits\u00a0Maria Nemcov\u00e1, former Director of Programs at the\u00a0Open Society Foundations<\/em>\u00a0in Prague. Maria Nemcov\u00e1 now works for the\u00a0Media Development Fund<\/em>\u00a0(a Soros linked fund that also finances the Hungarian left-wing weekly Magyar Narancs), where she holds the position of deputy director of operations. This Hungarian fact-checking project will be led by a former journalist from\u00a0direkt36.hu<\/em>,\u00a0an investigative pure-player supported by the OSF to the tune of $50,500 in 2016, $47,136 in 2018, $47,430 in 2019. In 2018, direkt36.hu acknowledged receiving support from international foundations, including the Open Society Foundations.<\/p>\n

Fact-checking has become a hobbyhorse for George Soros-linked foundations, who fund a range of projects aimed at combating \u201cfake news and misinformation\u201d, such as the\u00a0PolitFact.com<\/em>\u00a0project (Tampa Bay Times, Poynter Institute for Media Studies,<\/em>\u00a0close to the\u00a0Center for Investigative Reporting<\/em>, with ample financial support from the\u00a0OSF<\/em>).<\/p>\n

444.hu:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Non-stop anti-orbanism<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Launched in 2013, via a break-up of journalists from the liberal website\u00a0Index<\/em>, this site has among its members followers of\u00a0gonzo<\/em>\u00a0journalism and it stands out for its constantly provocative tone regarding Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government policies.<\/p>\n

Although one of the site\u2019s main authors, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Szily, defines\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0as being concerned with factual accuracy (which under Hungarian media law is rather true, the site being very rarely condemned for factual error) and declaring that they fulfil an informative mission as well as a counter-power for the common good, it is indisputable that the work of the journalists of\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0consists in mocking and denigrating, in a more or less subtle satirical tone, the government policy. Whenever appropriate, this site\u2019s journalists make fun of the ruling coalition and, whilst striving to stay within the law, present their readers with the image of a corrupt, retrograde, authoritarian government.<\/p>\n

Knock knock, Soros is back at it\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Thematic sections of the site deal with subjects such as the rule of law (in partnership with the\u00a0Helsinki Committee<\/em>\u00a0or the Blinken Archives of the Open Society, i.e. offshoots of the Soros galaxy), or gender issues, on which the editorial staff\u2019s position is quite clear and openly goes against that of the Hungarian government. A few months after its launch, 444.hu received\u00a0a transfer of 49,500 USD, in support to their work. Having to acknowledge this financial support from billionaire George Soros, the\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0editor-in-chief explained to the pro-government daily\u00a0Magyar Nemzet<\/em>\u00a0that this sum had been allocated to the development of a mobile application. Pro-government media often refer to\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0as a\u00a0\u201cSoros blog\u201d<\/em>, but the government is careful not to interfere with the media\u2019s outspokenness, as\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0is practical proof of the very clear link between the Soros galaxy and part of the Hungarian media.<\/p>\n

It is true that\u00a0444.hu\u00a0<\/em>does not have a direct link with any opposition political party, and indeed occasionally attacks the Hungarian socialist old guard and Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s historical opponent, former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcs\u00e1ny. The site\u2019s aim is clear: weakening anything that could hinder a change of government, dinosaur Gyurcs\u00e1ny and the last socialists being perfect cases of such hindrance. In short,\u00a0444.hu<\/em>\u00a0is daily proof that there is complete freedom of speech in Hungary for harsh, vocal and uncompromising criticism of the policies of the Orb\u00e1n government.<\/p>\n

Hungarian fact-checker Lakmusz: the beginning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In November 2021, this fact-checking project took shape with the creation of the site\u00a0lakmusz.hu.<\/em>\u00a0The site\u2019s first publications did not take long to arouse the attention of certain Hungarian\u00a0conservative and pro-government journalists, in particular on the LGBT question, as\u00a0the fact-checker intended to question the factual accuracy of statistics used by the Hungarian government concerning sex reassignment operations carried out on minors in Western Europe.<\/p>\n

The Hungarian word\u00a0lakmusz<\/em>\u00a0means\u00a0litmus paper<\/em>\u00a0in English. This paper is used to determine the pH of a solution and of certain gases when moistened. Appliance repairmen use this paper to find out if the warranty for a defective appliance is applicable, the presence or absence of humidity makes it possible to determine the responsibility of the user in the breakdown. The name of the Hungarian fact-checking project therefore refers both to a scientifically accepted measurement tool and to a method of establishing or excluding an intention to deceive. It sums up the usual stance of leftist-liberal fact-checking: claiming to hold the truth and taking the role of moral arbitrator.<\/p>\n

Since its launch, posts from the\u00a0Lakmusz\u00a0<\/em>website have overwhelmingly been aimed at undermining the credibility of Hungarian government held political positions and defending globalist forces. This is the case in an article proposing to identify ten lies contained in the documentary produced by the American presenter Tucker Carlson on \u201cHungary vs Soros<\/em>\u201d, and also several articles questioning the policies that went against the scientific mainstream during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n

A global project prior to the April 2022 elections.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Looking at the journalists that are part of the\u00a0Lakmusz<\/em>\u00a0project and its sponsors, it is clear that the new fact-checker is just another medium in Hungary\u2019s galaxy of anti-government news sites. These sites, whose weight in terms of visibility is equivalent or even greater than that of pro-government sites, like to describe themselves as\u00a0\u201cindependent\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and consider that they are invested with a mission of public interest facing off with pro-government media propaganda. The funding as well as the political affinities of the journalists working within these media or the tone used provide serious clues allowing us to deeply question this claim to independence.<\/p>\n

In the case of\u00a0Lakmusz<\/em>, the misunderstanding is more complex. Fact-checking consists of putting factual accuracy in eminently political areas where scientific accuracy is questionable or even impossible (economic \u201csciences\u201d<\/em>, claims of LGBT civil rights associations\u2026), whilst followers of this type of journalism pretend to ignore that less inexact sciences (virology, epidemiology) have become intermingled with highly ideological and political content.<\/p>\n

One can wager that\u00a0Lakmusz<\/em>\u00a0will strive in its publications to explain the factual accuracy of the following lines: the European institutions are on the side of good whereas the Hungarian government is on the side of evil, opposing mass immigration amounts to being racist, opposing the LGBT agenda (which does not exist) is a homophobic attitude, questioning the policy of freedom restrictions for health reasons is a conspiratorial inclination, wanting cooperation with Russia is proof that one is an agent of the Kremlin, etc.<\/p>\n

lakmusz.hu\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Editing Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Blanka Z\u00f6ldi \u2014 Editor-in-chief \u2014 former journalist at\u00a0Direkt 36<\/em><\/li>\n
  • N\u00f3ra Di\u00f3szegi-Horv\u00e1th \u2014 Journalist \u2014 former editor-in-chief at\u00a0M\u00e9rce\u00a0<\/em>(a self-confessed\u00a0\u201cleft-wing political newspaper\u201d<\/em>\u00a0founded by Andr\u00e1s Jamb\u00f3r, currently running for parliament for the allied opposition)<\/li>\n
  • Eszter Neuberger \u2014 Journalist \u2014 former journalist at\u00a0Abcug<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0HVG<\/em>, both medias are openly opposed to the Orb\u00e1n government\u2019s policies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Participating in the project<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Ede Z\u00e1borszky- AFP<\/li>\n
    • M\u00e1rk Herczeg \u2014\u00a0444<\/li>\n
    • Andr\u00e1s Kir\u00e1ly \u2014\u00a0444<\/li>\n
    • Rich\u00e1rd Hegyeshalmi (sudden death on 2 february 2022 aged 39) \u2014\u00a0Qubit<\/em>, partner site to\u00a0444<\/em><\/li>\n
    • Ferenc Hammer \u2014 Media Universalis Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny<\/li>\n
    • Szilvi N\u00e9met \u2014 Media Universalis Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny<\/li>\n
    • P\u00e9ter Bajomi-L\u00e1z\u00e1r \u2014 Media Universalis Alap\u00edtv\u00e1ny<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Director<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • P\u00e9ter Erd\u00e9lyi \u2014 director of\u00a0444\u00a0<\/em>once part of\u00a0Reuters Institute<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Publishing Director<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • G\u00e1bor Kardos \u2014 founder and CEO of\u00a0Magyar Jeti\u00a0Zrt.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          You can find a decription of\u00a0lakmusz<\/em>\u00a0here:\u00a0<\/strong>lakmusz.hu<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \u201cThe editorial staff of the fact-checker lakmusz.hu operates thanks to the support of the European Commission and is part of the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory (Magyar Digit\u00e1lis Media Obszervat\u00f3rium \u2014 HMDO \u2014 Hungarian Digital Media Observatory). The HDMO is a joint project between the French agency AFP, Magyar Jeti Zrt., the Media Universalis Foundation and ePressPack.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

          \u2014<\/p>\n

          Translated from French by the Visegr\u00e1d Post.<\/em><\/p>\n

          <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Article first published by\u00a0OJIM\u00a0on 14 February, 2022. On 26 October, 2021, Hungarian leftist-liberal online media\u00a0444.hu\u00a0reported that\u00a0Magyar Jeti Zrt.\u00a0[the company behind\u00a0444.hu, ed.] was going to launch a fact-checking site with the support of the European Commission and in collaboration with AFP. The Soros networks and methods behind this project, In 2020, the European Commission created a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"acf":{"subtitle":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visegradpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}