AI-Generated Political Attack Videos Target Hungarian Politician
The Nemzeti Ellenállás Mozgalom, a Hungarian political movement, reportedly ran a massive campaign of AI-generated attack videos targeting politician Magyar Péter on YouTube and Facebook, achieving over 650 million views across three months by spending 643 million forint on advertising. Google has since blocked political ads from its platform, with Facebook expected to follow.
What happened
Nemzeti Ellenállás Mozgalom began distributing AI-generated attack videos against Hungarian politician Magyar Péter on YouTube and Facebook starting in July 2025.
Over three months, the videos were played more than 650 million times across both platforms: approximately 150 million times on YouTube, 241 million times in standard videos on Facebook, and 259.5 million times in short reel videos.
The campaign cost 643 million forint (about 260 million forint on YouTube at 668,000 euros, and 383 million forint on Facebook), averaging approximately one forint per video view.
Reported impact
The AI-generated videos portrayed Magyar Péter as a corrupt politician who intended to steal people's money and had other negative attributes.
By comparison, non-advertised videos from the organization received only 5,000-15,000 views, while advertised videos reached over 20 million views, indicating the advertising amplified reach by at least 1,000 times compared to organic interest.
Index analysis
Google has already blocked political advertisements from its platforms, and Facebook is expected to follow within days, which will end the campaign's distribution channels.
Governance controls
The organization's funding sources for the multi-hundred-million forint advertising campaign remain undisclosed despite repeated inquiries.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.