In the digital age, social media platforms have become powerful tools for communication and information sharing. However, they can also be exploited for more sinister purposes. A recent investigation has uncovered a network of Instagram accounts that are manipulating algorithms to drive dangerous migration attempts to Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern tip of Africa.
This weekend, a dummy account named Mohammed was set up to investigate these interconnected Instagram profiles. Mohammed, a fictional Moroccan man in his twenties, was used to engage with the accounts and gather information. The investigation revealed that these profiles are offering advice on how to cross the border for a fee, with some requesting up to £400 for information on how to use sewer pipes to reach Ceuta safely.
The Network of Deceptive Accounts
The BBC’s Top Comment podcast identified dozens of Instagram profiles that portray the short swim around the Morocco-Ceuta border fence as safe and easy. However, in reality, people have drowned trying to make the crossing, and the accounts wrongly show Ceuta as a viable route to mainland Europe.
These accounts are gaming the algorithm with aspirational videos of Ceuta, showing groups of young men and women swimming happily in the sea. However, many have drowned making the trip in recent weeks. The accounts also share stories of people who have succeeded in reaching Ceuta and claim they have gone on to reach Spain or mainland Europe, despite about 75,000 of the 78,000 arrivals having been returned to Morocco by authorities.
The Haraga Profiles
Nearly 40 of these profiles had variations of the term Haraga in their name or handle, often with a Spanish flag as a profile picture and with the calling codes for Morocco and Spain in the description. Haraga in Maghrebi Arabic roughly translates to “those who burn” and is used colloquially to refer to migrants arriving in a new place and burning or destroying documents so they cannot be identified and deported back to their home countries.
The account history of these profiles, coupled with their posts and followers, indicated that most were being run from Morocco while a few were potentially based in Spain or Italy. Lots of them had been set up several years before, but their content about Ceuta had gained more traction in recent weeks.
The Impact of the Network
The crisis in Ceuta has calmed since the influx of roughly 78,000 migrants from Morocco last month, 100 of whom died according to the Mayor of Ceuta. However, the tensions between EU nations who share open borders and the criticism of the Spanish government remain.
The network of Instagram accounts is not only driving dangerous migration attempts but also risking further deaths and inflamed diplomatic tensions between Morocco and Spain. Several of the profiles are no longer on Instagram after the BBC contacted Meta, which owns the platform. Meta told the BBC that they have a team monitoring the situation in Ceuta in real time and removing content that violates their policies.
This is yet another example of how gaming an algorithm can fuel real-world harm. The new-found reach of these profiles, facilitated by Instagram’s algorithms, opens them up to a wider pool of paying clients. It is crucial that social media platforms take responsibility for the content shared on their sites and take action to prevent such exploitation.
