LAKMUSZ-HDMO is the EDMO hub in Hungary, built as a national platform aimed at becoming the reference for all anti-disinformation stakeholders in the country. HDMO stands for Hungarian Digital Media Observatory.

The HDMO consortium, led by Political Capital, involves six partners. Its greatest strength is the diverse team of social scientists, humanities with journalists and fact-checking professionals. Fighting disinformation, which is the main goal of the project, is inherently multidisciplinary and requires attention from multiple angles.

Following its three pillars, Lakmusz and AFP are doing fact-checks, Political Capital and Mertek Media Monitor are conducting research and writing publications, and Idea Foundation, with the support of AFP, is training teachers and journalists and is responsible for all the other media literacy activities.

The hub is based on the successful pilot project LAKMUSZ co-funded by the European Commission in 2022. Lakmusz.hu, the website launched as part of the pilot project, is already established as a fact-checking platform.

Activities

Fact checking

The fact-checking pillar of the project is carried out by two media partners: Lakmusz and AFP. 

Both organisations aim at detecting and debunking the main disinformation narratives in Hungarian language, in order to publish a continuous flow of high-quality fact checks, together with additional journalistic content that explore the workings of the disinformation environment from different perspectives. 

To do so, journalists rely heavily on the research projects produced in that field by the academic partners, who will give them insights and advice to optimize their investigation’s methods and workflows.

During their work, fact-checkers always follow high journalistic and ethical standards that uphold their commitment to impartiality and independence. Both media media partners are verified signatories of the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network and work in line with its guideline. Both Lakmusz and AFP publish their editorial and ethical standards, and the detailed methodology of the fact-checking process on their websites. (You can find them here: Lakmusz, AFP.)

In the framework of the HDMO project, Lakmusz and AFP will produce a total of around 1000 pieces of content, published both on lakmusz.hu and hdmo.eu. Furthermore, Lakmusz cooperates with 444.hu, a highly popular news website published by Magyar Jeti Zrt., which helps to promote the content to a wider audience, and also offers its articles to other Hungarian media outlets to republish them free of charge. 

The very diverse flow of fact-checks will enable us to build a shared database around fake news on our platform, which aims at helping journalists and researchers better understand the phenomenon and propagation characteristics of disinformation. On a European level, our hub is a member of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), contributing to its activities and collaborative projects. 

Research

This pillar of the project provides a meaningful answer to the detection, analysis, and disclosure of disinformation, as well as assesses its impact on society and democracy. 

Research of Political Capital and Mertek Media Monitor will cover activities aiming at providing and improving organizational and methodological background for fact-checking. This will ensure a true multidisciplinary community in Hungary with all interested stakeholders. Research and analysis activities will shed light on the presence and impact of disinformation in the Hungarian media space by (1) detecting the vulnerabilities of the Hungarian media system, (2) mapping the dissemination of disinformation related to major public issues (like Russia's aggression on Ukraine or the COVID pandemic), and (3) surveying public opinion on news consumption and susceptibility to propaganda.

Furthermore, Political Capital will develop AI-based tools to help identify trends and actors in the Hungarian disinformation space and map the diffusion of viral narratives.

Policy making

Mertek will prepare reports on monitoring the policies put in place by online platforms and the digital national ecosystem to limit the impact of disinformation. It will help the national regulatory authorities in Hungary to make sure the signatories of the European Code of Practice against disinformation at the national level stick to their commitments. Two reports will summarize the tendencies and developments regarding patterns and the spreading of disinformation in the Hungarian public sphere, the availability and effectiveness of the tools and solutions put in place to face disinformation, as well as the relevant policy measures.

Mertek plans specific workshops for the board members and the staff of the National Media and Communication Authority, the Hungarian regulatory body responsible not only for all types of media outlets but also for telecommunication and e-commerce. Representatives of ministries and the competition authority will be invited as well. The workshops will cover the current legal, technical, and economic developments regarding disinformation, the media system, and digital platform providers.

Media Literacy

LAKMUSZ-HDMO implements media literacy programs through trainings for journalists and teachers, e-learning curricula and other tutorial tools for young people and interested members of the public, and media campaigns to build resilience to online disinformation.

Training activities

Some of the training sessions are aimed at journalists. AFP holds three face-to-face, four-day-day long fact-checking training units. A training program includes: the principles and objectives of fact-checking; monitoring, identifying, and tackling disinformation; investigating the source; advanced searches; tracing images and video analysis; geolocation tools and techniques; and writing and presenting evidence.

The other part of the training is aimed at primary and secondary school teachers. Six training groups will be organized in 2023-2024 in Budapest and in other towns in the countryside. The six-month training will consist of three phases: e-learning, face-to-face training, and teaching practice. The teacher training courses are organized and delivered by the Idea Foundation.

Education tools

Four e-learning materials for young people, aimed at developing critical media literacy, will be produced during the program.The e-learning materials cover the following topics:

1. Manipulative techniques from the communicator's side
2. Attributes of quality content
3. Developing critical thinking
4. Fact-checking tools

Developing dissemination tools, tutorials, and educational materials on disinformation (six video tutorials in Hungarian, InVid-WeVerify toolbox in Hungarian, access to “LAKMUSZ Watch” and “Visalert”).

Media campaigns

To increase the resilience of society, tailored media education campaigns on the risks and opportunities of disinformation will be launched. Two major campaigns will take place, one targeting the 13-18 age group and the other aimed at the adult population.