Spain to launch tool to monitor hate on social media, PM Sanchez says

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Spain to launch tool to monitor hate on social media, PM Sanchez says

By Reuters
March 11, 2026

MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) - Spain will launch a tool to measure hate speech on digital platforms as ​part of a broader strategy to increase ‌oversight of social media companies, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday.

The country announced a wider plan last ​month to regulate social media, including a ​ban on its use for younger teenagers ⁠and measures to hold platform executives accountable ​for illegal or hateful content hosted on their ​services.

The new tool, called HODIO — an acronym in Spanish for Footprint of Hatred and Polarisation — will allow the ​government to systematically track the presence, amplification ​and impact of hate speech online, Sanchez said.

Online hate was ‌causing ⁠deep divisions in Spanish society, he said, and it was important to start talking about the "footprint of hate" in the same way society ​discusses the ​carbon footprint.
"We ⁠want to start talking about the impact of hate. When something is ​measured, it ceases to be invisible," ​he ⁠said.

The tool's results will be made public, so that citizens can see "who is blocking this content, ⁠who ​is looking the other way, ​and who is profiting from it," Sanchez said.

Reporting by Emma ​Pinedo; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Pooja Desai

https://www.reuters.com/world/spain-lau ... 026-03-11/