Spain targets online hate speech with new tracker

Spain has rolled out a new system to track hate speech on major social networks including Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube and Facebook. The tool, called HODIO (Footprint of Hatred and Polarisation in Spanish), will scan public posts, using AI and human reviewers to identify violent or degrading content and measure how it spreads and what impact it has.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez linked rising online abuse to a 41 per cent increase in hate crimes in Spain over the past decade, arguing that social platforms have become “a weapon of mass polarisation”. The government plans to publish HODIO’s findings every six months so people can see how platforms handle harmful content, as part of a broader push to tighten social media rules and reduce what Sanchez called “impunity” in the digital space.