Citation

Rodriguez Martinez P, Martinez Joya L, Villegas Lirola F. Soc. Sci. (Basel) 2024; 13(1): e33.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/socsci13010033

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in anti-immigrant hate speech on social media. Drawing on interviews with 15 immigrant associations and 11 pro-immigrant associations in the southern Spanish province of Almería, as well as digital ethnography, this article explores strategies used by immigrant and pro-immigrant associations to counter hate speech. The rise of this hate speech, disseminated mainly by far-right parties, has occurred at a time when many immigrant associations have little or no access to social media platforms. However, members of all these associations (immigrant and pro-immigrant) are aware of the perverse effects of these discourses, as they have either received them on their personal social media platforms or experienced abhorrent hate-speech attacks against their members and/or users. Despite their difficulties in navigating the "glocaline political arena", they have participated in a number of projects and developed tools that allow them to generate a counter-discourse. We identify and explore the richness and diversity of these online campaigns and activities, highlighting the difficulties that immigrant associations--compared to pro-immigrant ones--face in navigating the glocaline political arena.

Language: en

Keywords

Almería; counter hate speech; immigrant and pro-immigrant association; Spain