Átlátszó provided the data of Hungarian businesses and individuals to a foreign influence network - from Magyar Nemzet, the Office for Sovereignty Protection found this, among other things, when investigating the portal's activities. According to Magyar Nemzet, thousands of documents containing sensitive information may have been sent to the American central organization of the network through Átlátszó. The report, which will be published in the next few days and is being finalised, also found serious irregularities in connection with the financing of the portal.
Leak it to the Transparent! - can be read on the MagyarLeaks platform operated by the portal, the purpose of which, as they say, is to collect and publish information whose publication is of compelling public interest. However, the report of the Office of Sovereignty Protection sheds light on a much more serious case regarding the portal, along the lines of American interests instead of public interest.
Accordingly
Átlátzó also uploads the documents obtained during its public interest data requests and journalistic activities to the server of the American central organization of a foreign network, which are later used as ammunition for intelligence and influence activities.
Contracts and correspondence between state and local government institutions, Hungarian private enterprises and private individuals were also affected, but hundreds of telephone numbers and other sensitive information could thus have come into the possession of foreign interest groups.
In light of this, it is particularly poignant that in August 2024 it was Átlátszó who accused the Sovereignty Protection Office of exceeding its legal authority when it approached several state bodies with the intention of establishing cooperation.
Troubled finances at an organization fighting for transparency
In addition to the data management scandal, the office's report also makes serious findings regarding the finances of Átlástzó. According to the document, the financing of the news portal is not transparent, its financial accounts are sometimes confusing and contradictory, and the connection between the subsidies and their use cannot be traced in many cases.
The report specifically highlights: the public can know almost nothing about the financing of Átlátszó between 2011 and 2016, and the information that can be found in the relevant years between 2017 and 2023 points to numerous financial and accounting anomalies.
Based on the above, it is understandable why the portal refused to cooperate with the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty during the investigation.
According to our information, in addition to the above, the report found a number of other irregularities in connection with the operation of the portal and its financing. In several places, for example, traces of the foreign pressure network, whose presence was revealed by the office's previous investigation into the operations of Transparency International Hungary (TIM), have been revealed. By the way, TIM is also listed on the Átlátszó website as one of the portal's supporters in Hungary.
Transparency International Hungary can operate as part of a global lobby network
As is known, on October 14, the Office for Sovereignty Protection published its report on the activities of Transparency International Hungary, which has stirred up a lot of dust since then, in which it made the following main findings:
As part of a global lobby network that has been operating for decades, the organization carries out pressure activities along the lines of big power interests.
The operation of the organization is non-transparent, it carries out its activities with the involvement of foreign state funding, and more than eighty percent of its operations come from foreign sources.
The methodology of the Corruption Perception Index published annually by TIM is highly distortive, can be manipulated according to political and economic interests, and is suitable for influencing the international perception of countries.
Cover image: atlatszo.hu
