Spain Calls for United Action Amid Spike in Online Hate Against North Africans
The disturbing wave of violence against North Africans, including Moroccans, has been ongoing since last week in Torre Pacheco in southeastern Spain, after an isolated assault against a Spanish retiree.
The Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia, under the Ministry of Inclusion, published a June monthly report, monitoring hate speech on social media.
The report said that the AI-based system FARO detected over 54,000 instances of hate speech during this period, noting a 12-point increase in hate messages targeting people from North Africa.
This shows an increase from 69% in May to 81% in June of all reported content, noting that the wave of hostility coincides with various sociopolitical and sporting events like riots following the Champions League final.
Minister of Inclusion Elma Saiz described the use of violence and coded language as dehumanization, recalling the intention to expel vulnerable communities, adding that similar acts are intolerable forms of discrimination.
'We cannot allow hatred to become normalized in a free and democratic society like Spain,' she said.
The report highlighted that 56% of the detected content involves dehumanization, while 22% falsely associates the targeted groups with public insecurity, and 14% directly incite their expulsion.
The Spanish government cited a partnership between the Ministry of Inclusion and LaLiga, enabling the use of the FARO system. Despite the tool, only 29% of the reported posts were removed by platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.
In July, meanwhile, platforms removed only 8% of reported content from users.
'We need more proactive collaboration from digital platforms,' Saiz said, noting that the response cannot rely on chance or goodwill.
'All platforms must take responsibility for a real and growing threat to social cohesion,' she concluded.
Several reports highlighted how parties, including far-right groups, fuel tension and anti-migrant hate as well as Islamophobia.
A report by OHCHR said that political leaders 'who only openly use Islamophobia in their public discourses usually belong to far-right Vox or right-wing PP.'
Xenophobic hate speech against North African migrants and, more specifically, against migrant unaccompanied minors is mostly used as a political tool by the far-right, it concluded. Tags: African MigrantsMoroccan migrants
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