Las redes sociales solo eliminan el 28% del discurso de odio racista y xenófobo reportado por el Oberaxe

The latest monthly bulletin of the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia (Oberaxe) puts figures to a worrying reality: social networks still do not act firmly against hate speech. In December, only 28.4% of the reported racist and xenophobic content was removed by the platforms, that is, more than 70% of the reported messages were kept active.

The report details that TikTok is the platform with the highest withdrawal rate (83%), while X (formerly Twitter) only eliminated 10% and YouTube, none. Instagram and Facebook, with 26% and 72% respectively, show disparate responses.

Another worrying fact is the growth of publications that present immigration as an “invasion”, promoting narratives that justify the discrimination and criminalization of Muslims and people of North African origin. The report includes a 15-point increase in messages that promote the expulsion of people of foreign origin, a message that already represents 18% of the total hate content reported.

 Migration and criminality: a dangerous narrative

In the report for the month of December, hate speech in networks continues to point to the link between migration and crime: 34% of the messages denounced associate the migrant population with robberies and violence, either in a real way or through manipulated information.

In addition, xenophobic publications reinforce the false idea of a “migratory invasion”, especially against people from North Africa and Muslims. Numerous messages promoting “mass deportations” have been detected, with examples such as:

"Come, come, come to receive pasta, steal and rape."

"They are not immigrants, they are an army that the dictator distributes throughout the country."

"Deport them all."

The report also warns of the proliferation of white supremacist theories, such as the so-called Kalergi Plan, and an upturn in Islamophobic discourse, especially during the Christmas period.

60% of hate speeches are explicit and aggressive.

Beyond its content, the language used in these messages is also significant: 60% of the hate speeches analyzed include insults and aggressive expressions, while 8% use irony and sarcasm to mask their discriminatory burden.

Oberaxe insists on the urgency of social networks strengthening their moderation mechanisms to stop the spread of hate speech in the digital environment. The permissiveness of some platforms perpetuates disinformation, reinforces prejudices and puts social coexistence at risk.

The monitoring of Oberaxe is essential to make visible and combat xenophobia and racism in the digital environment, but a stronger response from the platforms is urgently needed to prevent these speeches from normalizing and translating into violence in real life.