Orbán’s Media Crackdown in Hungary Could Become a Model for Trump

Through financial and political pressure, Hungary’s Fidesz government dismantled much of the free press, silencing scandals and retaining power. - writes Lili Rutai

During the 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule, at least half a dozen independent media outlets have turned into mouthpieces for the governing Fidesz party. The government gained control over state media, while Orbán’s allies came to dominate most private outlets as well, including almost all radio and television channels and local newspapers, creating a virtual echo chamber.

International watchdogs estimate that Orbán’s party now controls more than 80% of Hungary’s media landscape.

Fidesz’s media empire, spreading misleading information and propaganda nationwide, has been instrumental in the party’s ability to retain power. For the US, this presents a compelling example. President Donald Trump, who has praised Orbán as a “truly strong and powerful leader” and promised continued cooperation, admires Orbán’s ideological and political outcomes. In the coming years, a US administration could apply similar forms of pressure against the free press. Verbal abuse of journalists at official press events, restricted access, and the downsizing of critical newsrooms in favor of pro-government outlets will sound familiar to Hungarian journalists. Now, similar patterns could unfold in the US.

Viktor Orbán and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting in Budapest on 16 February. Source: Facebook

Taking over outlets one by one

In March 2014, Origo, one of Hungary’s leading online outlets, reported on large, unexplained travel expenses incurred by a senior Fidesz politician, János Lázár. The article, published shortly before the 2014 election, intensified criticism of Fidesz. Although the right-wing party remained in power after the April election, there was one significant consequence: soon after publication, Origo’s editor-in-chief was fired.

While Lázár and Fidesz denied interfering with the media or pressuring the paper’s owner, Telekom Hungary, the episode marked the beginning of a large-scale crackdown on independent media.

Soon after the departure of editor-in-chief Gergő Sáling, many of Origo’s journalists resigned. Over the next decade, the outlet transformed into one of Fidesz’s most aggressive mouthpieces, publishing misleading or false stories aligned with the government’s ideology.

In October 2016, at 8:40 a.m., the servers of one of Hungary’s largest newspapers, Népszabadság, went offline. Dozens of journalists lost access to their email accounts. In the following hours, it became clear that Mediaworks Hungary Zrt., the paper’s owner, had shut it down, citing financial difficulties. The timing coincided with the newsroom’s planned relocation, when staff had already packed up their belongings. The news caught employees completely by surprise — according to reports, they had even ordered pizzas for a small celebration in the new newsroom.

Most political parties condemned the sudden closure. “It was just the right time for Népszabadság to close unexpectedly,” commented Szilárd Németh, a Fidesz spokesperson. Although the party denied involvement, Mediaworks later became a crown jewel of the pro-Fidesz media empire.

In the decade since, other prestigious outlets have been taken over by figures close to Fidesz. In June 2020, Index’s editor-in-chief, Szabolcs Dull, was dismissed, triggering the de facto Fidesz-ization of the paper. Former Index journalists went on to found Telex.

In early November 2025, Blikk, a tabloid with more than three million monthly online readers, was purchased by the pro-government group Indamedia. At the end of November, Szabad Európa, the Hungarian-language service of RFE/RL, ceased operations following Orbán’s visit to the White House.

Today, roughly a dozen independent outlets continue to operate in Hungary, exposing government wrongdoing, investigating large-scale corruption, and asking difficult questions. While these outlets enjoy significant online reach, pro-Fidesz media effectively control most television channels, radio stations, and local outlets, which are particularly influential in rural areas.

Many pro-government outlets, including Index, still publish neutral content, presenting themselves as independent while simultaneously running misleading stories that smear the opposition.

Financial and legal pressure

Since 2010, the Fidesz government has also worked to legally weaken press freedom. Measures have included the creation of a media authority empowered to fine outlets for failing to provide “balanced coverage,” restrictions on freedom-of-information requests, and a pandemic-era law criminalizing the publication of “fake information.”

Since 2023, legal pressure on independent media has intensified. As many large advertising agencies are aligned with Fidesz, foreign grants have become a financial lifeline for smaller independent outlets. Under the new “Sovereignty Protection Act,” the government established the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO), a powerful and opaque body led by a pro-Fidesz political scientist and tasked with combating “foreign influence.”

The SPO has labeled independent newsrooms and government-critical NGOs as “tools of political pressure and propaganda.” Those named included 444, Telex, Direkt36, and Átlátszó, alongside smaller rural outlets.

Building on this rhetoric, in 2025 Orbán personally declared “war” on such organizations in his March 15 speech, referring to them as “bugs.”

“We will dismantle the financial machine that has bought politicians, judges, journalists, pseudo-civil organizations and political activists with corrupt dollars. We will dismantle the entire shadow army,” he told supporters.

In May 2025, a Fidesz MP proposed a new law “On the Transparency of Public Life,” which would have enabled tax authorities to crack down on organizations receiving foreign funding. Although widespread outrage prevented the bill from passing, it remains in draft form and could quickly be adopted given Fidesz’s two-thirds parliamentary majority.

The current situation for journalists in Hungary

Despite the government’s reversal on the foreign-funding bill, independent media in Hungary continues to operate in a precarious environment. Journalists are often denied access to government events or prevented from questioning Fidesz politicians. Some reporters have reportedly been targeted with Pegasus spyware and frequently face abuse from party members, as well as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). Independent outlets have also been targeted by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattacks and smear campaigns.

“Sustained by public solidarity and professional integrity, some independent media outlets have managed to survive, but their continued existence remains precarious,” notes a recent report by the Rule of Law Lab at New York University School of Law and Hungary’s Mérték Media Monitor, which urges the EU to take stronger steps to safeguard media freedom in Hungary.

In the United States, President Trump’s actions seem to mirror Orbán’s. Through lawsuits, hostile rhetoric toward journalists, and efforts to challenge or delegitimize unfavorable coverage, pressure on the media has intensified. As Reporters Without Borders has warned, these dynamics risk creating “a potential crisis for American journalism.”

Hungary’s case shows that the curtailment of press freedom does not occur only through imprisonment or overt repression. It can also unfold through sustained pressure, intimidation, and the slow suffocation of newsrooms. It happens through security guards blocking journalists - but also through business deals made behind closed doors.

Lili Rutai