"All six reports find that misinformation is prevalent, yet the channels used for distribution of such content are somewhat different. The misinformation landscape in Serbia, for example, is dominated by mainstream media outlets. Small misinformation websites simply cannot compete with “misinforma ... tion giants” like the tabloid newspaper Blic. In Bosnia & Herzegovina, mainstream media are also the main sources of misinformation. Among the alternative sources of misinformation, the most common are “anonymous, for-profit websites offering no true journalistic value.” The mainstream media in Hungary are also known as propaganda and misinformation channels. In addition to them, however, the Hungarian report uncovered large independent networks of misinformation websites. In Slovakia, misinformation websites are run by “multiple independent entities” whereas in Moldova, misinformation is spread through mainstream media and, distinctively, through Russian misinformation websites." (Introduction, page 1) more

"Misinformation is a lucrative business in several Eastern European countries, reliant on advertising revenue, and pulling in cash from a variety of other sources including government subsidies, crowdfunding, tax designations, donations and sales of merchandise. The Business of Misinformation projec ... t, run by the Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS), set out in its first phase to map the misinformation business in six countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. Our researches identified the individuals and businesses that own local misinformation websites and their links to institutions, parties and other individuals." (Publisher description) more

"It is almost impossible to obtain information about who is behind Hungarian misinformation websites; financial information about them is even harder to come by; Hungarian misinformation websites fall on the spectrum from purely ideological sites to simple moneymaking machines; Facebook appears to b ... e the almost exclusive source of traffic for misinformation websites in Hungary; Misinformation websites focusing on generating income are often abandoned and then brought back to life using a different domain name; The Facebook page of misinformation websites is stable and keeps directing users to the ever-changing urls of the websites; The websites’ posts are spread via Facebook pages and groups that often bear names unrelated to the website. In a lot of cases, this can be because the websites’ names have changed. But we also found signs of an underground trade of Facebook groups and pages; The revenue generated by placing ads on a website may not be significant, but Hungarian misinformation websites appear to have at least a couple of sister-sites; At the money-making end of the spectrum, lots of misinformation websites appear to be controlled by few individuals/groups, and some individuals/groups appear to run a high number of misinformation websites; One of the groups identified as operating a number of misinformation websites can be linked to a network of political organizations that have been accused of fraud in the 2014 and 2018 general elections in Hungary." (Main findings, page 1) more