Elections are increasingly not competitions of political program anymore, but rather competitions of fake news, lies and character killings all over the World. In the news industry, the openly admitted fake news producing branch is stronger than ever. There is a basic right defined by the freedom of expression protecting against unlimited spreading of systemic character killing statements or negative propaganda doxing a political rival, often without any real ground or with just a tiny piece of truth in them. In other words, a politician can say whatever he/she likes, because the other politician can do the same, as well, so the right to make statements and to disconfirm fake statements creates a theoretical balance. In theory. The Basic Law (the Hungarian Constitution), the EU treaties and the Universal Declaration of Human rights guarantee these rights. Nevertheless, this principle can only be fulfilled if there is a balanced Media representation of all parties. That’s why the right to unbiased information is an equivalent basic right in the referred documents.

Research projects done by the Dimenzió Média Foundation have proven that in Hungary the basic right to unbiased information is severely breached in the Media system that has been created since 2010. We can’t speak about free and democratic elections in a country, where a major part of the population, a proportion that can have a decisive impact on the results of the elections don’t meet the message of some political parties participating in the competition, those that could disconfirm in time the fake news spread about them.

What do we measure?

1.) How information and disinformation relate to one another.

2.) The nature of spreading news and intentional fake news.

3.) How much disinformation is spread.

4.) The efficiency of fake news-industry.

5.) The distance between the reality and the created distorted image of reality.

6.) The actual standing of the “troll war”.

7.) Omitting refutation, the extent of missing information.

A spectacular proof for the specific asymmetry of the Hungarian Media system is that refutations reach only a part of society, so it is worthy to spread obvious lies, if the number of misled people not reachable by the disconfirmations is enough to win the elections.

A much deeper and wider scope research would be capable of revealing whether the questioned people met the disconfirmation of the statements, and if so, why they still believed the original statement despite the refutation. For this research a focus group inquiry would be the most suitable.

The immune system of the Media and the efficient uncovering of fake news have been paralyzed by the government intervention creating editorial boards serving the political propaganda, by the government interference in market relationships, by the protectionism in dissemination and by advertisement expenditures disregarding real business interests.

If there is such a measuring mechanism that show to what extent the right to unbiased information of the European citizen has been breached, then the Union must do something with it. Important institutions deal with limiting the impact of fake news and disinformation mechanisms, but it is not sufficient to uncover the lies.

If Media regulation remains in the authority of member states, and EU rules don’t protect the basic right of citizens to unbiased information, namely they won’t be controlled by the EU, then the fulfillment of the basic values written in the EU basic charter cannot be required in the member states.

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union declares:

Article 11: Freedom of expression and information

1.   Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.

2.   The freedom and pluralism of the media shall be respected.

The Fundamental Law of Hungary declares:

Article IX

(1) Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.

(2) Hungary shall recognize and protect the freedom and diversity of the press, and shall ensure the conditions for the free dissemination of information necessary for the formation of

democratic public opinion.

(3) In the interest of the appropriate provision of information as necessary during the electoral campaign period for the formation of democratic public opinion, political advertisements may only be published in media services free of charge, under the conditions guaranteeing equal opportunities, laid down in a cardinal Act.

(4) The right to freedom of expression may not be exercised with the aim of violating the human dignity of others.

(5) The right to freedom of expression may not be exercised with the aim of violating the dignity of the Hungarian nation or of any national, ethnic, racial or religious community. Persons belonging to such communities shall be entitled to enforce their claims in court against the expression of an opinion which violates their community, invoking the violation of their human dignity, as provided for by an Act.

(6) The detailed rules relating to the freedom of the press and the organ supervising media services, press products and the communications market shall be laid down in a cardinal Act.

In the brain blood system nature solved how to stop germs getting into the brain with a narrow gate in protection of the brain’s blood supply. To achieve democratic and free elections, legislators face the challenge of creating those legal tools that could prevent the “intellectual germs”, the intentionally misleading political propaganda based on fake news getting into the social consciousness.

(The Political Propaganda Indicator was introduced by the Dimenzió Média Foundation following the methodology of the Press freedom index of Freedom House and the Corruption Index of Transparency International.)

Ferenc Vicsek, media expert