Peter Magyar and Team Shut Down Discord Server Where Tisza Party Activists Were Revolting + Video

The personal data collection scandal involving Hungarian opposition party leader Peter Magyar and his team has led to the shutdown of the Tisza Party’s Discord server. While Magyar’s team blames attacks from the government, Mandiner points out that the shutdown actually came after the party's activist database, which contains harsh remarks about some volunteers, was leaked.

Peter Magyar, President of the Tisza Party (Photo: Gabor Markovics / Mediaworks)

As previously reported, screenshots obtained by the news outlet show that members of the Tisza Party’s Discord group were outraged by the leak of a document containing their personal data. In the private Discord chat, activists voiced their strong disapproval of the incident.

One member also revealed that the party had instructed them to create fake profiles using photos stolen from Russian websites.

According to the Discord group, they were taught during training that it’s a good idea to steal photos of people with families, because it makes the profiles seem more credible and likable. For example, sharing a stolen baby photos with a caption like “we just had a child” was encouraged.

In reality, Tisza decided to shut down the server after its own activists exposed the party’s deceptive campaign tactics involving fake profiles.

Tisza Party's Internal Database

As Magyar Nemzet also reported, a shocking internal database was recently leaked to the media. The document clearly proves that the Tisza Party, led by Peter Magyar, secretly and illegally compiled a list of supporters. In addition to basic personal information, the list also included evaluative comments about the individuals.

According to Atlatszo, most people on the list were not informed about being included in the database. They only found out from media reports that their data had been leaked to Hungarian media outlets due to the Tisza Party’s careless handling. The portal called several of the listed volunteers to verify the authenticity of the leaked data, and in the cases they checked, the information proved to be accurate. Peter Magyar did not deny the existence of the list, and in his defense even went so far as to blame Russian hackers.

Istvan Tenyi, known for his public interest complaints, has requested a position statement from the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH), as he believes the case raises the possibility of illegal data acquisition and collection.

Cover photo: Peter Magyar, President of the Tisza Party (Photo: Gabor Markovics / Mediaworks)