The Government is expressly alarmed at the proliferation of "hate speech", which it attributes singularly to the extreme right, which in its opinion reflects the banners deployed in Madrid by Vox or Desokupa. And he claims to be willing to fight them, for which he also calls for all the institutions and civil society to join forces. The Council of Ministers thus approved this Tuesday a new strategic framework for citizenship and inclusion against racism and xenophobia for the period 2023-2027, in line with the mandate of the European Union, "in the face of hate speech that is spreading, especially in the field of Internet”, as announced by the government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez.
This new strategy, the minister spokesperson has highlighted, is driven by two main objectives. “On the one hand, progress in the integration and inclusion of migrants. And on the other hand, to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance”, she explained.
The plan, he assured, "is more necessary than ever." "Because in view of some political and even public discourses it is claimed as more necessary", she has argued. “Hate does not arise by spontaneous generation. Hate, on many occasions, feeds. And this is what we have to fight from all public administrations ”, Isabel Rodríguez has claimed.
The initiative, at the proposal of the Ministry of Inclusion, has had the participation of the rest of the Government and institutions such as the General Council of the Judiciary, the State Attorney General's Office or the Ombudsman. And the minister spokesperson has warned that she responds "to one of the main social concerns, which is the increase in hate speech that ends in hate crimes."
Isabel Rodríguez has highlighted as a relevant novelty of the lines of action of the plan, the measures referred to "prevention, awareness and intervention against xenophobia, racism and intolerance". "For the first time, action is being taken in our country with complaints to the State Attorney General's Office by public administrations," she pointed out.
And he explained that the first step was taken by the Spanish Observatory for Racism and Xenophobia, dependent on the Ministry of Inclusion, with the presentation of five complaints against YouTube, Instagram, Twitter or Telegram profiles or channels that, in his opinion, " feed hatred” against immigrants or the LGTBI collective, in some cases with “Nazi ideology” and “inciting express violence”. "All this is not spontaneous, there are those who are causing this type of action that ends in hate speech, if not in hate crimes, which is what we are denouncing in this case by the State," he warned.
The Government spokesperson has thus launched "a call to the public to combat" these hate speech, as in her opinion the canvas displayed by Desokupa on the facade of a building in Madrid conveys.
