Social Media Also Affects Freedom of Speech in Hungary

Donald Trump has declared war on the censorship industry. The president-elect stated that his first priority will be to defend free speech, a policy move expected to deeply impact social media. We spoke with Hunor Both, a senior analyst at Szazadveg, about the political influence and power of social media platforms in Hungary.

US President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: Hans Lucas via AFP)

He then explained that those banned from these platforms - such as Donald Trump, who was blocked for years - face significant restrictions on their freedom of speech. Mr. Both believes that Trump’s battle against this censorship will likely be supported by figures within his administration, 

such as Elon Musk, the current owner of X, who holds identical views with Trump regarding the importance of free speech.

What Trump means is precisely the political intent behind these restrictions - an intent to ensure that opinions opposing the globalist left do not reach the masses and that such views are immune from criticism, Mr. Both opined. He underlined that this

paints a picture reminiscent of an Orwellian world

Addressing the issue of exerting influence, he pointed out that during the presidential campaign four years ago, Twitter intentionally suppressed stories about the controversial dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, while Trump was barred from expressing his views. Speaking about reach limitations, Mr. Both shared his observation that politically sensitive content or views perceived as insufficiently moderate often struggle to gain traction on platforms like Facebook and YouTube. He cited Donald Trump’s interview with Joe Rogan, which had 48 million views on YouTube, compared to Trump's interview with Tucker Carlson, which generated 268 million views.

Cover photo: US President-elect Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)