Saturday

2nd Dec 2023

Far-right Facebook networks removed before Spain election

  • Facebook removed three far-right networks in Spain (Photo: Eduardo Woo)

Three far-right Facebook networks in Spain were removed earlier this week following a months-long investigation by Avaaz, a global activist NGO.

Unidad Nacional Espanola (Spanish National Unity), Todos contra Podemos (Everyone against Podemos) and Lucha por Espana (Fight for Spain), had created multiple and duplicate accounts whose pages peddled messages against Muslims, the LGBTI community, immigrants, and women.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Christoph Schott, Avaaz campaign director, told this website on Wednesday (24 April), that the exploitation of Facebook by individuals behind such networks is posing a threat to democracy.

"The system is being gamed in a way where hate can go viral, like using duplicate accounts, fake accounts, and then pretend that those ideas are super supported," he said.

The three networks had over 1.4m followers, more than any of the Spanish party leaders ahead of the general election this weekend. They also counted some 7.4m interactions in the past three months alone, posing questions on how easy it is for people to skew public opinion.

The take downs come at a sensitive time in Spain given the general elections on Sunday (28 April).

Unidad Nacional Espanola alone had attracted some one million followers and was created and coordinated by Javier Capdevila Grau, a far-right activist based near Barcelona.

Grau told Spanish newspaper El Pais that he was being censured for his views because of his possible influence on the elections.

Avaaz also says an Antonio Leal Felix Aguilar was behind Todos contra Podemos.

The two networks were managed by multiple accounts, in breach of Facebook's own rules.

Some had been up and running for years and include page names like Ejercito espanol (Spanish army) and Barcelona se queda en Espana (Barcelona stays in Spain).

Aside from hate, Avaaz says the groups had also spread false and misleading information, including doctored images of Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias doing the Nazi salute.

Avaaz handed over their findings to Facebook in a 60-page report on 12 April.

Facebook then removed the networks on the 23 April, the same day the European Commission released its monthly report on how social media is tackling online disinformation.

Facebook not doing enough

But Schott says Facebook shouldn't be relying on Avaaz or others to bring forward such material.

"They should have found all this stuff and taken action and not having someone like us finding it," he said.

He said Avaaz are currently making other Facebook probes in France, Italy, and Poland. They may also launch an investigation in Hungary, he said.

The European Commission has similar concerns on the role of social media when it comes to the spread of fake news.

On Tuesday, it said Google, Facebook and Twitter are not fully meeting their voluntary commitments to tackle disinformation.

The three giants had last October vowed to prevent the spread of fake news via a code of conduct amid threats by the commission to impose binding regulations.

But critics like the Brussels-based NGO, European Digital Rights (EDRi), say the social media giants are doomed to fail in their efforts given their profit-driven motives, opacity and lack of oversight.

"Facebook, the company that is involved in a ridiculously long list of scandals, should not be praised and put in the driving seat to regulate our free speech," said EDRi, in a tweet.

EU want Facebook pan-EU advert fix for May elections

EU institutions want Facebook to relax its rules, to allow pan-European political groups to carry out EU-wide campaigns. Facebook has yet to implement the demands - posing questions on the extent to which Europe relies on the US tech firm.

Facebook launches EU election transparency rules

Political ads in the EU are to be labelled as having been "paid for by" and restricted to their home countries, US tech giant Facebook has said ahead of elections in May.

British MPs condemn Facebook CEO's misrule

Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed "profound failure of governance within Facebook", British MPs said, while blaming Zuckerberg for his contempt for democratic scrutiny.

EU warns Hungary over Afghan refugees

Budapest tried and failed last week to deport three families to Afghanistan, and is accused of denying food to others stuck in its transit zone. The European Commission says it is taking the allegations "quite seriously."

Opinion

'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU

Since last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta corporation is forcing its European users to either accept their intrusive privacy practices — or pay €156 per year to access Facebook and Instagram without tracking advertising.

Latest News

  1. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  2. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  3. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  4. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  5. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  6. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  7. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  8. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us