How Social Media Rumours Led To Deadly Migrant Crisis In Spain's Ceuta

A wave of false information on social media led to a massive influx of migrants into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta last month. Tens of thousands of people attempted to cross from Morocco, with at least 90 people dying, most of them by drowning.The misleading posts were spread across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Telegram, giving migrants the false impression that Spain had relaxed its rules and that people who reached Ceuta by sea would be allowed to stay, according to The NY Times.Two days before the mass crossing on July 30, a local newspaper, El Faro de Ceuta, posted a video on TikTok and Instagram showing two young women walking through Ceuta in wetsuits with their hair still wet. The posts suggested that the women had just swum across from Morocco. The newspaper wrote, "Ceuta can't take it anymore."When the video was reposted in Arabic, viewers interpreted it as evidence that people could swim into Ceuta and move around freely. The women were smiling and making gestures such as peace and thumbs-up signs.This event brought up an earlier Supreme Court decision when it had considered the case of a migrant who reached Ceuta by sea.The court did not give migrants an automatic right to stay in the autonomous city. It said that people who entered through open water, without crossing a physical border barrier, were entitled to a judicial review before authorities decided whether they could be expelled.The rumour spread, and some claimed that migrants who swam across would not be deported.Groups linked to people-smuggling networks began using Facebook and WhatsApp to attract migrants interested in reaching Europe and gave practical information, including maps, transport, equipment and advice about reaching areas close to the Ceuta border.At least 215 Facebook accounts shared an identical false claim about the Supreme Court. One Facebook group was connected to a WhatsApp group called "the path to Ceuta", which used a swimmer emoji. Another account wrote, "Ceuta is turning into an open gate."One account that shared the claim belonged to Youssef Belhaissi, a spokesman for Morocco's Inter-ministerial Delegation for Human Rights. He has around 1.3 million followers.One migrant, identified as Achraf Ben Ahmed, said he travelled by train from central Morocco before buying a wet suit and fins. He then swam about 12 kilometres to reach Ceuta on July 29. He said, "I saw videos on Instagram that said: They will help you, they won't send you back."He said he had seen social media posts suggesting that migrants would receive help and not be returned. After reaching Ceuta, Achraf said he hid in a forested area and went into the city only to buy food. He had already tried three times to reach Europe and said he still hoped to succeed.Jorgen Carling, a migration expert at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told The NY Times, "Even if the Supreme Court decision was inconsequential, it gave the rumors that kernel of truth that made them much more trustworthy."Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it formed a team to monitor the situation and removed posts that violated its rules. But researchers said some accounts and groups remained online. After the tragedy, some were used by families trying to find relatives who had gone missing during the crossing.