A DW fact-check describes a pro-Russian disinformation campaign in the context of Hungary’s election campaign: manipulated videos were intended to stir outrage against Ukrainian refugees.
According to experts, these targeted fabrications, attributed to the Russian “Matryoshka” network, misuse the credibility and reach of DW’s Hungarian service in an attempt to influence the parliamentary election on April 12. Since 2016, International Fact-Checking Day on April 2 has highlighted the work of fact-checkers and their fight against disinformation.
In the run-up to the election, a bot network spread fake videos falsely attributed to media outlets such as Reuters and DW. The clips promoted the false narrative that Ukrainian refugees were planning an attack on Hungary’s head of government, Viktor Orbán. Both claims are untrue: there is no evidence of such attack plans, and no outlets, including DW, have reported them, as confirmed by a DW fact-check. Since 2021, DW has been providing independent information in Hungarian via YouTube, Facebookand TikTok, reaching an average of 4.7 million views per month.
Mathias Stamm, DW Editor-in-Chief: “The bot-amplified fake video case in Hungary shows how ruthlessly disinformation is used today to fuel distrust and distort political narratives. This is why carefully researched fact-checks are essential—to expose deception and provide reliable orientation. DW remains firmly committed to this standard across all our newsrooms and languages worldwide.”
This case is an example of “media spoofing,” a disinformation tactic in which perpetrators imitate established media brands to make false narratives appear credible—for example through fake websites or videos. The goal is to exploit trust in reputable sources and mislead audiences into believing manipulated content is authentic. Experts say the recent videos—amplified by active bot networks and reaching more than 100,000 users on social media—are part of the pro-Russian disinformation operation “Matryoshka” (also known as “Operation Overload”), which targets media outlets and fact-checking teams with fabricated narratives.
DW has recently expanded its verification capabilities, including launching an internal verification service and a strengthened its fact-check format now available in multiple languages: English, German, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian, Hindi, Tamil and Urdu. DW is also part of the EBU and ARD fact-checking networks. At the same time, the work of fact-checkers—journalists who verify and counter misinformation with evidence-based reporting—is becoming increasingly challenging.
The fact that governments are explicitly taking action against fact-checkers marks a new phase in political discourse and raises questions about press freedom. The Trump administration, for example, has instructed officials to deny U.S. visas to foreign fact-checkers, accusing them of “censoring” free speech. The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), of which DW is a member, criticized the moveand rejected the claims. More than 160 media organizations worldwide are now IFCN-certified and collaborate internationally.
At the same time, increasingly sophisticated disinformation techniques, political pressure and a post-truth environment on social media are making fact-checkers more difficult worldwide. AI-driven disinformation is also on the rise, as such content can be produced quickly and with minimal effort.
Joscha Weber, Head of DW Fact-Checking: “More than half of all newly created online texts are now AI-generated, the number of deepfakes is rising sharply, and the quality of manipulative AI content continues to improve. That’s why we are constantly strengthening our fact-checking response—by investing in more technology, stronger verification skills, and greater media literacy for our audience.”
DW’s fact-checking team addresses viral misinformation and false claims in numerous languages, both on its website and across social media. Studies show that fact-checks significantlyreduce belief in false information and can also help prevent people from accepting misinformation in the first place.