This article studies the process of demonization, its consequences, and how social media contribute to the formalization of its axiology. The demonization of societies aims to create social subjects that fit into the idea of the “other” by exposing them to compulsory invisibility. This research’s main objective was to examine how demonization is used as a weapon of oppression to devalue specific individuals through the hashtag #StopIslam and Instagram’s role in this process. The methodology used for this purpose has consisted of an empirical and quantitative analysis of the most recent (1 January 2020–31 July 2020) posts on Instagram with #StopIslam, analyzing the images and the content. The study has determined how, through social media manipulation, erroneous ideas are transmitted that prevent the Islamic collective’s integration, especially in European countries. The conclusions will reflect hate speech and how the Islamic world’s demonization results in the Muslim community’s stigmatization, racism, and Islamophobia. Although there are different articles related to demonization and hate speech, there are not many scientific resources that explain these variables on Instagram and how it affects the inclusion of the Muslim community in Europe, significantly when the time spent on the Internet is growing.

Spanish-Moroccan mixed couples exemplify a case of cultural hybridization that reflects the colonial past between these two countries. In this context, social media is a space of opportunity and risk to face discrimination and othering. In this article, we draw upon postcolonial theory and Internet studies to consider TikTok affordances as tools that are relevant to understand how cultural, national, and religious identities are shaped and presented in digital spaces. In this sense, this study constitutes the first exploratory analysis of Moroccan-Spanish mixed couples’ (self)representations and identity construction as reflected by their TikTok content. The memetic and intersectional aspects of the mixed-couple identity emerge as central in the convergent nature of the platform and their lived experiences. Through an initial analysis of 8,653 TikTok videos, we identified 6 creator accounts with more than 10K followers to conduct a deeper multimodal content and discourse analysis of 146 videos. This enabled us to explore how these creators portray their hybrid identity through short, vertical videos harnessing TikTok’s vernaculars and affordances. The results enable us to propose the concept of performative hybridization, which involves discursive markers within these couples’ TikTok content that reflect a fluid integration of two cultures, while the pervading visual and narrative components reflect the dominance of one set of identity traits over the other. In this case, Moroccan culture is more prevalent.

Information, communication, and digitalization technologies have driven the unlimited access to knowledge, thereby promoting creativity, economic and cultural development, and the emergence of a global world at breakneck speed over recent decades. Across its multiple dynamics, this digital revolution has opened new educational opportunities that are closely connected to emerging technologies and, recently, to artificial intelligence. These advances have had an unexpected impact on people’s lives, altering the values of society and our understanding of the role of education and the modern school in this scenario of global communication. In this context, media education arises from the clear influence of electronic devices and digital technology on society. The aim of this study is to review our understanding of the scientific relevance of the terms “media education” and “educommunication” during the last two decades to describe its evolution on the basis of its terms, locations, thematic stages, and methodological approaches using a systematic quantitative–qualitative review of 598 articles collected from the Web of Science between 2000 and 2021. The results suggest that such scientific interest can be divided into two stages, viz. reflections on media education in its terminological diversity (2000–2012) and measurement, implementation, training, and educommunicative digitization in terms of technological–digital development (2013–2021). We conclude that studies in this transdisciplinary field, which have historically been spread across North and South America, Europe, North Africa, and the North/South East Asia–Pacific region, have broadened their perspective from early criticism of media education to consider the “glocalization” of media education, directing interest toward the cultural digitization of the Global South, algorithmic literacy, and the digital and ethical–critical (self-)management of individual and collective identity.

Este trabajo analiza cómo los medios de comunicación construyen realidad social mediante el lenguaje. La realidad social es revisada como un constructo discursivo fundamentado en el principio antrópico de la información y en el axioma watzlawickiano de que “es imposible no comunicar”. Se tiene como objetivo principal analizar cómo el concepto de “opinión pública” ha evolucionado con el desarrollo de las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC). Para ello, se ha realizado una revisión crítica de la literatura científica, realizando un mapeo por las bases de datos WoS y Scopus, para luego determinar a partir de un estado de la cuestión cómo se forman las nuevas definiciones de opinión pública, entendiendo así el ecosistema mediático y las interacciones de los individuos en el plano de la comunicación digital. Como conclusión principal se destaca que la opinión pública ya no es solo creada unidireccional y monopólicamente a través de los medios de comunicación convencionales, sino también con la interacción y participación de la “audiencia prosumidora” en el seno de las redes sociales. Sin embargo, esto no es indicativo de que se ha perdido por completo el rol de los medios de comunicación en el control social a través de estrategias como el framing (encuadre) y priming (priorización) e incluso han surgido, a partir de esta construcción interactiva de las realidades, nuevos vicios informativos como las fake news (noticias falsas).

Social media and their participatory characteristics promote the construction of meanings that differ from those emitted by mainstream media outlets, becoming a tool that enables a reconfiguration of the dominant discourses. TikTok offers unique possibilities to confront the neoliberal imaginary and open a space for debate, incorporating political viewpoints and establishing itself as a new communication scenario. Regarding news about jihadism, many researchers have observed that those who practice Islam are classified as a monolithic entity, and this entire religious group is generalized as a threat to modern societies. The main objective of our research is thus to know the discourses used on TikTok to respond to the binomial Islam = terrorism spread by mainstream media and the affordances of this platform used to challenge this misconception. Using the snowball method, a multimodal analysis was conducted by identifying TikTok videos with the hashtags #yihadista, #yihad, and #islamterrorismo (in its English and Spanish versions) to explore the uses of the TikTok platform. The resulting selection criteria included: (a) content related to mainstream media discourses on jihadism, (b) discussion of a topic related to Islam and terrorism, and (c) where the content creator declares him/herself to be a Muslim. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to provide an enhanced understanding of how the media promote the need to generate a counter-narrative on TikTok. The results reveal that discourses from Muslims that combat Islam = terrorism discourses are constructed within the spiral of the dominant narrative, thus visualizing the negative discourses about Islam.

The following research studies, from a theoretical perspective, the different forms of symbolic and discursive violence and the transmission of hate speech through new media. The main objective is to understand the consequences of symbolic violence through language and how this affects freedom of expression. Reflective and critical argumentation is highlighted through an exploratory analysis carried out by a literature review, where it is determined that the confrontational narrative used by the media contributes to the dehumanization, demonization and polarization of specific collectives.