The Hungarian Constitution Protection Office has initiated a national security investigation into the opposition news portal Magyar Hang and opposition leader Péter Magyar over their dissemination of a false news story alleging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was staying in Hungary.

‘The competent authorities are taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread of such fake news and to mitigate the associated risks,’ the Government Information Centre stated. ‘The fake news published in the Hungarian press and by Péter Magyar—which remains accessible on his Facebook-page—has the potential to endanger Hungary’s security,’ the statement continued.

It added that such serious disinformation could pose a national security risk and increase the terrorist threat in Hungary.

As reported by Hungarian Conservative, Bashar al-Assad fled Syria over the weekend after rebels led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured Damascus, effectively ending his rule. For some time, the Syrian president’s whereabouts were unknown, but it has since been confirmed that he has travelled to Moscow, where he has been granted asylum.

However, the imagination of the Hungarian opposition media and politicians immediately ran wild, with Magyar Hang publishing the fake news report of the year. On Sunday morning, the outlet claimed in a headline that Assad and his family had landed at Budapest Airport on Saturday evening aboard a Syrianair flight. To support the story, they included a...

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