Workshop: Is It True, Is It False?

Fake news, disinformation and conspiracy theories in the Hungarian public sphere was the title of the in-person and on-line workshop, organised by the Hungarian Europe Society under the auspices of DIACOMET project on Wednesday, 21st of February 2024, at its seat.

First, Péter Krekó (Political scientist, social psychologist; Habil. Associate Professor ELTE University, Faculty of Education and Psychology; Executive director, Political Capital; Project coordinator, Hungarian Hub Against Disinformation) in his presentation entitled ‘Tolerate or Support? Psychological impact mechanisms in an informational autocracy’ highlighted the most important characteristics of information autocracies, the role of traditional and social media in the spread of fake news, and summarised various research findings on media trust, media consumption and disinformation.

Afterwards, Blanka Zöldi (Journalist; Editor-in-Chief, Lakmusz) in her speech entitled ‘Sponsored disinformation in the election campaign’ talked about the launch of the Hungarian fact-checking site Lakmusz, their experience with disinformation activities related to the 2022 Hungarian general election campaign, and their preparations for the upcoming European Parliament and Hungarian local elections within the framework of the Hungarian Digital Media Observatory (HDMO) project.

Thank you all for joining us.