Racist and LGBTI-phobic discourse in Catalan media, unpunished for the last 10 years

Contrary to what people might think, there have been very few complaints about racist and LGBTI-phobic discourse in the media in the last 10 years, if we look at the number of cases opened between 2014 and the first quarter of 2024. There have been 25 in total, 10 filed with the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC) and 15 with the Catalan Information Council (CIC). The CIC received the majority of complaints about racist content, with a total of 14 cases, and only one complaint about LGBTI-phobic content. This imbalance is mainly due to a spike in complaints in 2019 about media coverage of unaccompanied foreign minors.

It is important to note that none of these complaints led to sanctions on the media by the bodies. After analysing the CAC's legal arguments in the cases of complaints that could lead to sanctions, and after noting that not all available legal remedies are used, it can be concluded that the lack of punitive action can be explained both by the possible inadmissibility of the complaint, and by shortcomings in the legal resolution of the case.

These are the main conclusions of the study "Els drets dels col·lectius i persones afectades per discursos d'odi racistes i lgtbi-fòbics difosos a través dels mitjans de comunicació" [The rights of groups and people affected by racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech disseminated through the media], carried out by Josep Granados Lladós, Vicent Canet Martínez and Anna Clua Infante, a researcher from the Social Transformation and Communication (SOTRAC) research group at the Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).

No authority to sanction

The report highlights that another reason for the lack of effectiveness of complaint systems for LGBTI-phobic and racist content in the Catalan media is the total absence of a regulatory body with sanctioning powers that covers all complaints, regardless of whether the content is disseminated through audiovisual or written media. In fact, complaints about xenophobic and LGBTI-phobic content in the written press (paper or digital) are not submitted to the CAC but to the CIC, even though the latter is a private body. This indicates a gap in the public complaints system that leaves a significant amount of media content unchecked, despite various laws protecting the rights of groups affected by discriminatory speech. To quote the study: "Analysis of the trend in complaints over time shows a clear downward curve, with zero complaints processed since 2022, and occasional peaks of higher activity – a maximum of two complaints per year."

These results, together with the scepticism and lack of confidence expressed by most of the organizations interviewed, provide sufficient grounds for questioning the efficiency and effectiveness of the procedures. So, the main hypothesis of the study is confirmed: the complaint mechanisms available to people to deal with hate speech in the media are ineffective in Catalonia.

Secondary hypotheses

With regard to the secondary hypotheses of the report, the low use of complaint channels is confirmed by the data from the organizations in the sample. Of the 10 organizations analysed, only three have formally sent their complaints to the bodies they have identified as being responsible for dealing with this type of request. It is true that these three organizations have occasionally turned to the CAC, but none of them mention the CIC as a body to which complaints should be addressed.

The low use of complaint mechanisms is not due to a lack of awareness of the existence of bodies that ensure the application of laws and codes of conduct against hate speech in the media: only one of the 10 organizations analysed stated that it was not aware of any body with this function.

The bodies mentioned by the other nine organizations are the CAC, the Catalan Journalists' Association and the Catalan Ombuds Office, with four mentions; the Government of Catalonia's Ministry of Equality and Feminism, the CIC, the Observatory against LGBTI-phobia and the Public Prosecutor's Office, with two mentions; and Barcelona City Council's Office for Non-Discrimination, the Government of Catalonia's Office for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, and the Spanish government's National Markets and Competition Commission, with one mention.

One reason that is clearly confirmed as a cause of the low use of complaint mechanisms is the lack of resources. This is a recurring theme that emerged from the open-ended responses. According to the report, "there is a lack of people and time to initiate and develop a complaints procedure, as there are not enough resources to cover all the issues on the table."

Another important reason was also identified, showing a high prevalence in the groups analysed: mistrust in the usefulness of the complaints procedures. All the organizations in the sample said that they do not believe that complaints can make a difference, and therefore they choose other ways of calling attention to hate speech in the media.

In addition to the CAC and CIC, the study also involved 10 organizations that agreed to be interviewed: the Observatori contra l’Homofòbia, the Catalan Association of LGBTIQ+ Migrants and Refugees (ACATHI), LesbiCat, Stop -Salut Sexual LGTBIQ+, Colors de Ponent, Secretariado Gitano, Musulmans contra la Islamofòbia, SOS Racisme, Unitat contra el Feixisme i el Racisme, and the Association of Communication Users (AUC).

This research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 10, Reduced Inequalities, and 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Related report

Clua-Infante [Anna], Granados [Josep] and Canet Martínez [Vicent]. (2024). Els drets dels col·lectius i persones afectades per discursos d'odi racistes i lgtbi-fòbics difosos a través dels mitjans de comunicació. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10609/150359

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