Spain will launch a tool to monitor hate speech on digital platforms as part of a broader strategy to increase surveillance on social media companies, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said today.
Last month the country announced a broader plan to regulate social media, including a ban on their use by younger teenagers and measures to hold executives accountable for any “illegal content” or “hate speech” posted on their services.
The new tool, which will be called HODIO–an acronym in Spanish for “Hate and Polarization Imprint”–will allow the government to systematically monitor the presence, spread and impact of hate speech online, Sanchez said.
Hate speech online is causing intense polarization in Spanish society, the prime minister said, and it is important to start talking about the “hate footprint” in the same way that society discusses the carbon footprint.
“We want to start talking about the impact of hate. When something is measurable, it ceases to be invisible,” he commented.
The results of the tool will be made public so that citizens can see “who is blocking this content, who is turning a blind eye and who is benefiting from it,” Sanchez concluded.
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