Hungary’s radical right 2.0

Abstract

In the digital age, the Internet is an important factor in the emergence and success of political parties and social movements. Despite growing evidence that extremists of all stripes use the virtual world for their purposes, research on this topic still lacks a wide array of empirical data, case studies, and theoretical background. In particular, Facebook, as the most important social networking site, is a new tool for political parties and movements to mobilize followers. The article explores how the extreme-right party Jobbik uses this tool more successfully than other Hungarian parties or Western European extreme-right parties. Comparing the growth in followers highlights this success, and a look at how it generates likes helps to explain it. The article argues that Jobbik uses Facebook in a sophisticated way and suggests that this “likable” attitude helps to attract young and first-time voters.

Keywords:

• mobilization
• radical right
• Hungary
• social media
• Jobbik

Notes

1. Jobboldali Ifjúsági Közösség: Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom – right-wing youth association: Movement for a Better Hungary. The word “Jobb” in Hungarian has two meanings, the adjective for “better” and the direction “right;” the comparative Jobbik therefore means both “better” and “more to the right.”

2. The coalition of Fidesz (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége-Magyar Polgári Szövetség: Alliance of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic Alliance) and KDNP (Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt-Christian Democratic People’s Party) has governed since 2010 with a two-thirds majority.

3. Given the limited extent of Twitter use in Hungary, it was omitted from this analysis.

4. According to analytics website www.alexa.com.

5. Jobbik is considered by the author as a formation at the junction of party and social movement due to its close ties to subcultural groups; therefore, social movement theories are helpful to interpret Jobbik.

6. The term “radical right” is much disputed (Mudde 2007). This article follows the approach of Michael Minkenberg, who understands the radical right as an ideological family that covers organizations, groups, political parties, and subcultures. Minkenberg argues that “the radical right can be defined as a radically exclusionist political force, which, more than other political currents and movements, employs rigid historical references in the imagination of the community it claims to fight for.” (Minkenberg 2010,17)

7. Magyar Igazság és Élet Pártja – Hungarian Party of Justice and Life.

8. On the importance of Árpád stripes, Hungarian historian Krisztián Ungváry has noted, “The historical Árpád flag is a historical flag of Hungary. However, it was in far-reaching use only until the late 14th century. But the Arrow Cross Party revived this banner again in 1938. Behind this move was the rejection of Western cultural heritage, since the Árpáds were the only autochthonous Hungarian royal family in Hungarian history. The Árpád flag was for many a symbol of terror when the Arrow Cross Party declared it the state flag on October 15, 1944” (Ungváry 2011, 289, originally in German, translation by this author).

9. However, this assessment is increasingly disputed in light of Fidesz’s handling of the refugee crisis.

10. Manuela Caiani and Linda Parenti developed a tool for measuring the degree of Internet openness of a given country, which they labeled “technological opportunity.” Data on internet penetration can be found at: http://www.internetworldstats.com for the years 2008–2010 (Caiani and Parenti 2013, 32).

11. Subsequent similar posts were only integrated once.