The European Commission publishes the results of the new monitoring cycle on hate speech on social media, in which FSG has participated [editar]

The European Commission has published the first monitoring cycle carried out under the new Digital Services Act.

The European Commission has published the first monitoring cycle carried out under the new Digital Services Act (DSA), specifically in accordance with Article 16. There have been seven previous monitoring cycles, but this is the first to be conducted under the provisions of the DSA.

The main objective is for the signatories to the Code of Conduct (participating platforms and social media networks) to swiftly review content reported via the DSA’s notification and action mechanism and take steps to remove it if it is deemed to be illegal hate speech, i.e. public incitement to violence or hatred against vulnerable or traditionally discriminated-against groups.

The main features of this first report are that it has been carried out using a commonly agreed methodology which will facilitate the comparison of results from this year onwards, and the preparation of the 2026 monitoring cycle. In line with the Code of Conduct, the Commission is publishing these results to promote accountability, transparency and civil society engagement.

The monitoring period ran from 3 November 2025 to 12 December 2025. In total, 3 356 reports were submitted, of which 1 020 were from trusted flaggers. Forty-one organisations from 24 Member States (all except Romania, Slovenia and Sweden) participated in the monitoring.

The average percentage of reports removed by the platforms involved in the monitoring exercise was 60.6 %. The average percentage of reports reviewed within 24 hours was 57.7 %, and within 48 hours it was 6.7 %. These figures are worrying, as they mean that 40 % of illegal hate speech remains online despite having been reported, and despite the commitment by the companies that signed the code to remove 100 %.

As for the breakdown of the grounds for illegal hate speech, according to reporting carried out by civil society organisations and public bodies across the EU, including Fundación Secretariado Gitano, it was as follows:

• Anti-Muslim hate: 16.6 %
• Sexual orientation: 15.4 %
• Xenophobia (including anti-immigrant hate): 14.5 %
• Antigypsyism: 11.3 %
• Anti-Semitism: 9.6 %
• Ethnic origin: 8 %
• Afrophobia / anti-Black racism: 7.5 %
• Race: 5.5 %
• National origin: 4.3 %
• Others: 3.4 %
• Misogyny: 1.6 %
• Disability: 1.6 %
• Religion: 0.7 %

As can be seen, antigypsyism is the fourth leading cause of reported hate speech at 11.3 %, trailing only anti-Muslim hate (16.6 %), sexual orientation (15.4 %), and xenophobia (including anti-immigrant hate) (14.5 %). We find this figure worrying because, although the percentage has fallen slightly compared to the previous cycle, it demonstrates the persistence of anti-Roma hate speech over time; in the previous cycle, it was the leading cause of hate speech in the EU (16.8 %).

X received the highest number of reports (1 256), followed by Meta/Facebook (1 087), TikTok (362), Instagram (329) and YouTube (323).

Fundación Secretariado Gitano has reported 124 cases of anti-Roma hate speech identified across various platforms and social media (X/Twitter, Meta/Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram). In the case of FSG, only 26.6 % of the reported anti-Roma content was removed, a very low rate given the seriousness of the messages reported.

In Spain, the other social organisations and public bodies that have participated in the monitoring were Oberaxe, the National Office against Hate Crimes, CERMI and SOS Racismo.

At FSG, we view these monitoring cycles positively, as they serve as a tool to improve the control of online hate speech and to highlight the reality of antigypsyism on social media, raising greater awareness among service providers and society about this reality and helping to improve the management of hateful content, one of the main issues currently facing the field of discrimination. Furthermore, we wish to express our concern regarding the low removal rate, which fails to meet the standards set out in the code of conduct.

We therefore stress the importance of bringing national legislation into line with the new requirements of the DSA in order to improve the effectiveness and transparency of these processes and ensure that platforms increasingly fulfil their commitments regarding online hate speech. In this regard, we are concerned that Spain has not yet established the powers of control, inspection and sanction for the Digital Services Coordinator (National Commission on Markets and Competition), the competent authority in this area, meaning that Spanish trusted flaggers have not yet been appointed to the European Commission, although this should have been done some time ago. This delay prevents Spain from taking appropriate action to monitor hate speech on social media, as required by the DSA.