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DEUTSCH: HUNGARY VICTIM OF MEDIA MANIPULATION

 

Hungary is yet again on the end of media manipulation by liberal media spreading fake news, Tamás Deutsch, the head of Fidesz’s European Parliament delegation, said in a letter to the body. Referring to Music Television (MTV)’s interview with Viktória Radványi, a member of the LGBTQ community and a winner of the “Generational Change” category of the European Music Awards streamed on MTV’s YouTube channel, Deutsch wrote that whereas she referred to violence on the streets of Budapest, “in the film, MTV’s short film shows footage taken not in Hungary but in Georgia”. He said MTV quietly removed the images falsely depicting Hungary only after Hungarian website kontra.hu drew attention to the discrepancy. The Fidesz MEP insisted that the case highlighted a “common and extremely harmful” practice by liberal and progressive media outlets that sought to manipulate and insult certain countries or politicians on the international stage. Deutsch said that in such cases politically motivated false statements were presented as facts before being justified “with new lies and distortions”. He said MTV had not taken responsibility or apologised after the manipulation was exposed. Deutsch added that this sort of manipulation amounted to “an attack on freedom and democracy”.