More and more Hungarian Facebook users are encountering the same phenomenon: they comment under a political post, and within a few moments later they receive a Messenger message from “Viktor Orbán” or another politician. The tone is friendly, the intention unmistakable: redirect the user into a new, one-way communication channel. These messages are not written by politicians — nor by the so called “peace warriors”1 — the entire process is automated. It is built on classic marketing chatbots, which have now become a key component of domestic campaign infrastructure.
The problem is that all this directly conflicts with European data-protection and election-integrity rules.
The primary purpose of the message is not conversation but funneling the user into a unidirectional broadcast channel. Meta’s Broadcast Channel feature is mass push-notifications from a political actor, without any news-feed filtering. The chatbot system logs everything by design: which narrative the user reacted to, which buttons they clicked, how active they are, what type of content they engage with. This profiling uses the same techniques as commercial marketing — except here, the purpose is political.
This logic fits neatly into the transformation of the Hungarian media system: government-aligned actors dominate traditional media, but the new growth potential lies in direct digital channels, not television. The governing side is by far the highest spender2 on the platform, it is no surprise that — alongside using the famous “peace warriors” to strengthen their voices — they are building their communication funnels here.
Legally, however, this is a grey zone. With the 2024 Regulation on the Transparency of Political Advertising (TTPA)3 and the Digital Services Act (DSA)4, the EU is attempting to regulate political “microtargeting” and algorithmic systems that distort democratic processes. But the chatbot is not an “advertisement” — it is a campaign tool disguised as an organic interaction. Because any interaction with political content may reveal political opinion, this information qualifies as special-category personal data under EU law. It can be processed under strict conditions and requires explicit consent.
The regulators’ goal is simple: the user should understand why they are receiving a particular message. Chatbot systems, however, conceal whether a mass campaign or behavior-based targeting is taking place.
This creates a direct political communication channel that is more powerful than any advertisement, yet bypasses traditional transparency requirements.
And what can users do?
You can leave the channel (Messenger → Leave Channel), block messages from the Page, or block the Page altogether (though in that case you lose your option to make yourself heard). Under the GDPR, you may request access to and deletion of your data, and you can report political spam to Meta. (How quickly and whether they will respond properly is a completely different topic.)
In case none of these appeal to you, you can always reply to the “digital emperor” — perhaps someone is reading after all. I did the same and instead of jumping into one of their funnels, I suggested the only right choice I could think of at the time: recommend them a change in government.
- Peace warriors are people who believe the current government’s false narrative that the country is under attack and they should “fight back with peace”. (I know, it sounds self-contradictory…) ↑
- Fidesz spent crazy amounts of money on social media ads, as international comparison highlights according to multiple independent sources. ↑
- Transparency of Political Advertising (TTPA): An EU regulation adopted in 2024 to increase public visibility into political advertising across digital platforms. It obliges advertisers and platforms to disclose who paid for an ad, how much was spent, the targeting criteria used, and why a specific user is seeing it. The goal is to limit hidden microtargeting practices that could distort democratic debate. (official link) ↑
- Digital Services Act (DSA): A core EU legislative framework regulating online platforms, in force since 2024. It imposes obligations on intermediaries and very large platforms to manage systemic risks, including political disinformation, opaque recommender systems, and unauthorized profiling. It requires transparency for algorithmic processes, access to data for researchers, and mechanisms for users to understand why they receive certain content. (official link) ↑