Facebook has removed the account of Hungarian far-right party Mi Hazánk. While the social media site has so far only said that the party breached their community standards, Mi Hazánk is outraged and wants government action. Others suggest, however, that the party’s recent, controversial actions might have played a role in the ban.
Mi Hazánk’s site had 80,000 followers, and according to the party, Facebook first removed their October 23rd event, and later on, the central page (the sub-organizations’ are still present) was made unavailable. In their view, Facebook failed to give proper explanation. This is the second similar move, as after the 2019 EP elections, the social media giant removed party leader László Toroczkai’s site, followed by 207,000.
The party argues that the move is “…not only anti-democratic and unacceptable, but also illegal.”
Meanwhile, the party’s MP and spokesperson Dóra Dúró demanded the Justice Ministry’s digital work group to step up. Hungarian legislation must thwart “Facebook’s left-liberal dictatorship of opinion,” she said, adding that the government cannot further delay confronting the dominance of multinational tech companies.”
In her view, “…the censorship that systematically disregards rule of law, bans right-wing and Christian content worldwide. It is not possible to express an opinion on Facebook on topics such as Roma population’s explosion, segregation, “Gypsy crime,” bans on LGBTQ propaganda, gender lobbying or anti-white racism, issues that touch Mi Hazánk’s agenda as well. In addition, Facebook’s move came as the party’s popularity was on the rise, Dúró claimed.
The party has been making headlines in recent months by physically and verbally threatening and attacking anything that they label as LGBTQ propaganda, including children’s books, events, and film screenings.
Jewish news site akibic.hu, on the other hand, suggests that Facebook’s move might have something to do with László Toroczkai’s speech on October 23rd. Commemorating the 1956 Revolution, the Ásotthalom mayor at one point said that it’s time to talk honestly about ’56 and speak of the Jewish origins of some communist leaders. “[Executive Rabbi of the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation] Slomó Köves will certainly condemn me for this but I put up the rhetorical question, how is it that both [omnipotent communist leader of the era] Rákosi and [powerful minister] Gerő were of Jewish origins?”
featured image via Balázs Mohai/MTI