Harassment and hate speech against politicians and parties on social media during the 2023 Spanish general elections

The global surge of populism and its impact on electoral processes has drawn attention to the examination of technology's influence on democracy, specifically its implications for aspects such as pluralism and misinformation (Fujiwara, Müller & Swartz, 2021). While social media has opened up new avenues for citizen participation in politics within democratic societies, in certain instances, online harassment targeting politicians exhibits characteristics inherent to hate speech (Ramírez-García et al., 2022). This involves directed attacks on individuals or groups based on their identifiable traits (Blanco et al., 2022), with messages that encourage violence and animosity towards a specific collective (European Commission, 2019). Such expressions articulate an ideology, often relying on stereotypes, pertaining to aspects such as gender, religion, race, or disability (Chetty & Alathur, 2018). The escalation of hate speech and toxicity directed at politicians on social media not only undermines the roles of citizen representatives (Bradshaw & Howard, 2017) but can also result in restrictions on freedom of expression through self-censorship. In this context, this research addresses the response received by the messages of the main Spanish politicians and political parties on social media during the days immediately before and after the 2023 general elections in Spain. To this end, the presence of toxicity and hate speech have been analyzed in the 34,251 messages (retweets) published in response to messages spread by 200 accounts of political parties and politicians on the social network X (Twitter). The following research questions have been formulated: What is the intensity of harassment and hate speech against Spanish politicians? What themes are most recurrent in this harassment? Is there a gender variable in these behaviors? Does the gender variable have a political orientation? Results indicate that, given their recurrence, it can be considered that hate speech and digital harassment against politicians, at least in its less extreme forms, are systemic on social media, particularly in highly polarized contexts such as electoral processes. Beyond messages containing incivility or expressions of political hatred, concerning messages specifically identifiable as hate speech—those made based on belonging to a particular group—sexism or gender-based digital harassment has been the most frequent form of harassment. The data suggests a recurrence of this type of harassment against women, particularly during a period of intense political mobilization, with a notable focus on equality laws, aligning with public attacks made by some leaders.