How to cite this article / Normalized reference (Following APA 7th Standards)

Gil-Ramírez, M. y Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas, R. (2022). Discursive strategy on Unaccom- panied Foreign Minors on YouTube. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 81, 259-284. https://www.doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1548

Translation by Paula González (Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Venezuela)

Introducción

Since the end of the 20^th century, migratory flows have been increasing (Barrios, 2021; Méndez and Gómez, 2022) and have been affecting social dynamics. At the international level, and regarding mi- gration policies, irregular immigration and its constant intensification are one of the most controversial aspects. In Europe, the population of unauthorized immigrants has gone from an estimated 3 to 3.7 million in 2014 to between 3.9 and 4.8 million in 2017 (Pew Research Center, 2019). The migratory phenomenon is not, therefore, a conjunctural fact, nor does it imply a novelty typical of contempo- rary societies (Economic and Social Council, 2019), although sometimes the media noise it generates makes us think otherwise. In the Spanish context, since November 2020, the migration issue has been occupying a particularly relevant position on the public agenda due to various crises such as the one that occurred in the Canary Islands (Euronews, 2020) or the border incident with Morocco triggered in May 2021 (Martin, 2021). Among the thousands of migrants who have recently arrived illegally in Spanish territory, unaccompanied foreign minors (hereinafter UFM) have acquired significant media attention motivated, among other aspects, by the development of the campaign for the Madrid elec- tions of May 4th, 2021, and the position that the far-right party Vox has exposed during it concerning this group.

In general terms, the news published by the media featuring migrant children who arrive and remain in Spain without the reference of an adult are numerous (Andrés-Laso, 2020). The figure of the UFM has become a new media actor with increasing attention from the audience (Rosen and Crafter, 2018). Gómez-Quintero et al. (2021) note a progressive increase in the volume of information disseminated by the Spanish press about minors who migrate alone to Spain between 2017 and 2019.

In this sense, the controversial poster introduced by Vox in the electoral agenda of the Madrid elections in which the formation proposed a comparison between the expense that a UFM supposes for the pu- blic coffers and the remuneration that a pensioner receives, together with the hectic general migration situation, has currently triggered the media echo around these minor migrants, both in conventional and digital media and in social networks. A media noise that responds more to a political debate than to a real social problem of an increase in the number of UFM under the tutelage of Spanish protection systems, including educational systems, which can serve as generators of a better future (Jiménez and Cota, 2019). On the contrary, the number of minors under the care of the public administration decrea- sed by 34.27% in 2020 compared to 2019 (Attorney General of the State, 2021). However, far-right ideologies have turned the management of prejudice, fear, and resentment towards immigration into an ingredient of political confrontation (Tortajada et al., 2014) that is used for electoral purposes (Cea D`Ancona, 2005; Ott, 2016; Sniderman et al., 2004), championing the defense of the nativist social state against the threat that the migrant poses to prosperity and national security (Cheddadi, 2020). In the Spanish case, “the vertiginous rise of Vox has decisively contributed to integrating the issue of immigration as a problem of national order into the political agenda and public debate” (Cheddadi, 2020, p. 70).

UFM have been defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, 2019) as those persons under the age of 18 who are separated from both parents and are not under the care of an adult. Andrés-Laso (2020) adds a differentiating nuance to this definition, pointing to the situation of vulnerability and the needs of this group by pointing to UFM as “people of training age who move to a foreign country with a different culture, language, habits, or religion and who lack any control or family reference” (p. 11). In terms of semantics, the acronym refers to two defining aspects of this type of migrant: they are not of legal age and they are unaccompanied.

In any case, the double status of migrant and minor of these children and adolescents generates ten- sions in the legal and social interpretation of Human Rights by imposing the need to marry the protec- tion of UFM with the rules on access control of illegal immigration of each territory (Knezevic, 2017); which, on many occasions, places this group in a particularly vulnerable situation of uncertainty.

This research focuses on this specific typology of immigrants, UFM, one of the most delicate and sensitive aspects of the many that the migratory phenomenon has (Andrés-Laso, 2020), from a com- municative perspective and given the political, social, and media importance that this group acquires at present. We propose an analysis of the representations and discursive approaches that, around the acronym UFM, are built on the online video platform YouTube, a social network that can be conside- red of the first order and that serves to popularize current issues of various kinds, such as music (Ba- ños-González et al., 2020; Juárez, 2020), politics (Gil-Ramírez, 2019), sports, and, lately with special incidence, the socio-sanitary issue (Gil-Ramírez et al., 2020; Piqueiras et al., 2020; Arrufat, 2021).

The examination of the concrete representation of the UFM has not yet been addressed in the context of social networks. The present proposal tries, therefore, to make up for this lack by initiating a specific line of study on the projection of the image of this group, which is carried out through the online video platform.

Objectives

The main objective of this research is to address the migratory phenomenon from the area of commu- nication, observing the role played by the YouTube social network in the construction of the collective imaginary about the figure of UFM who arrive in Spain. Our interest lies in examining what type of information (discourse-message), in what way (approach), by whom (sender), and with what level of reception (receiver), is transmitted about this group on the online video platform.

From this main objective, the following secondary objectives are derived:

• SO1: Compare and classify the type of issuers that broadcast content about the “UFM- Spain” phenomenon on YouTube.

• SO2: Determine the main discursive decisions and the approach used in the video pro- duction-editing process.

• SO3: Analyze the presence and bias that is given to UFM in audiovisual work through both the image shot and the lexicon.

• SO4: Categorize the theme of the videos that arouse the greatest number of reproduc- tions and compare them with the levels of interaction that they generate on the part of the receivers.

Methodology

This research, from an exploratory-descriptive perspective, adopts a mixed approach (quantitati- ve-qualitative) that combines the use of two methodological tools: content analysis (Igartua, 2006; López-Aranguren, 2016) and critical discourse analysis – hereinafter CDA– (Van-Dijk, 1999; 2016; Wodak, 2003); The latter is linked to the perspective of conversation analysis (Tusón, 2002) under the consideration of language, not only as a means to express and reflect particular ideas but as an element that participates and intervenes in the construction of social reality. We understand, therefore, discour- se as a practice of a social nature that is affected by the status, ideology, and power of those who inter- vene in it (Fernández-Martínez, 2007). CDA allows establishing a meeting point between the uses of language and social issues that makes it possible to analyze the lexicon, both as a tool to express diffe- rences that have to do with hierarchical social structures and as an instrument that allows observing the power relations that give place to them (Martínez-Lirola and Olmos-Alcazar, 2015). Content analysis, for its part, “has turned out to be an effective tool in different research works dealing with the issue of immigration and the media” (Acosta and Martínez-Velasco, 2017, p. 44) and allows us to examine the DNA of the content published on the platform, its structure, its basic components, its operation, as well as inferring and predicting its mechanism of influence (Igartua, 2006).

With an analytical purpose that is more intensive than extensive, the study avoids the analysis of large samples of information codified and examined through computational methods, and proposes the ex- ploration, mainly qualitative, of the 61 videos that YouTube shows as a result in response to the label search “UFM-Spain” and using as filters “upload date: this year” and “ordered by: number of views”. With these parameters, we try to extract the most popular content that the proposed label has generated in the last year. The sample is collected on September 13^th, 2021. The temporary selection is random but responds to the interest of covering a broad and current period in the analysis of the situation of the phenomenon of unaccompanied minors in Spain. The use of the acronym UFM is determined by the popularity gained against its breakdown (unaccompanied foreign minors). These acronyms have been imposed as an emerging designation to name foreign children who arrive or remain alone in the national territory (Gómez-Quintero et al., 2021; UNICEF, n.d.).

On the other hand, the specific choice of YouTube and not another type of social network is determined by the geographical delimitation of this study, as this platform is the most used in the Spanish context (83.3% of 37 million users), despite being surpassed by Facebook globally (2.7 billion users compared to 2.291 million YouTube) (Hootsuite and We Are Social, 2021).

During the research and review by the different encoders, 4 videos were discarded for the following reasons: the term MENA (Spanish for UFM) that appears in the video refers to the last name of the singer Ana Mena and not to the acronym for unaccompanied foreign minors² ; the video does not deal with the specific issue of UFM but rather refers to illegal immigration as a whole, containing the acron- ym only in the description³ ; the video is unavailable because the YouTube account associated with it has been canceled⁴ ; the content is duplicated: two videos have the same title and development, despite being published by different broadcasters⁵ . In the latter case, the content with the highest number of views is kept in the sample.

Thus, finally, the sample is made up of 57 contents, which have involved the viewing and analysis of 11 hours (10:56:45) of audiovisual content. The volume of videos included in the sample coincides with that examined by previous works (Gil-Ramírez, 2019) that address the study of some aspects of YouTube intensively rather than extensively. Based on descriptive statistics (Berger, 2015; Daymon and Holloway, 2010), the proposed sample is representative, making it possible to use the results as a pattern in future predictive models with inferential-type analyzes and larger samples (Berrocal et al., 2017).

Footnote

2 Https://www youtube com/watch?v=puUDVm2Txvk

3 Https://www youtube com/watch?v=qVjCWRjCa7Y

4 Https://www youtube com/watch?v=SpgpBiPFxsQ

5 Video that is discarded from the sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sk_sBlDmt8; the video that is kept in the sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3InyV01Wzs

The hyperlinks of each of the videos (Annex) were compiled in a spreadsheet for later collation and consultation.

The design of the applied analysis sheet includes different categories and variables (independent and dependent, with the possibility of multiple or dichotomous responses) whose validity is based on the relevance to the object of study found in previous research (Arévalo, 2017; Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas, 2020). The different sections that it contemplates try to answer the following re- search questions:

• Regarding the issuer: From which YouTube channels is information about the “UFM- Spain” phenomenon disseminated? What are the type and digital identity of the issuers?

• Regarding the discourse-message: What are the discursive decisions used in the produc- tion-editing process of the video? From what approach is it presented? How are unaccom- panied foreign minors represented through the images and language used in audiovisual work?

• Regarding the receiver: What is the theme of the videos that arouse the greatest number of reproductions? What is the level of user-recipient interaction?

Source: Own elaboration based on Arévalo (2017) and Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas (2020).

From the proposal of Arévalo (2017), we take the basic structure of analysis, distinguishing between the examination of the sender, discourse-message, and receiver. Although the work of Arévalo (2017) proposes a methodology referring to the study of social movements on YouTube, it is equally applica- ble to explore the object of study proposed by this research (unaccompanied foreign minors). On the other hand, the categories and variables that are included take as a reference those that Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas (2020) propose in the analysis of the migratory phenomenon through the study of the “Aquarius” case and the role that YouTube played in the construction of the collective imaginary about the figure of the migrant in this specific humanitarian crisis, adapting them to the spe- cificities of the proposed analysis.

The different dimensions of the fieldwork try to address the set of elements that make up the nature of the content of the videos that are published and consumed on YouTube, presupposing that their com- bined examination will allow the extraction of data of interest for the advancement of the line of study that focuses its attention on the weight that social networks have today in the construction of the collec- tive imaginary about the migratory phenomenon, in general, and about the figure of UFM, in particular.

The final disposition of the proposed categories and variables is elaborated after a preliminary random test of 50% of the sample (n=29), which made it possible to resolve the intercoder discrepancies, co- rrecting and readjusting those aspects susceptible to a biased interpretation. Once validated, the enco- ders (MG and RG) analyzed the entire sample applying the resulting template (Table 1). Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the intercoder reliability level, resulting in k = 0.81.

Results

Digital identity of the issuer

The comparative study of the broadcasters allows establishing a typology of them, as well as charac- terizing them based on their digital identity and finally determining who holds the hegemony of the discourse on YouTube about the UFM phenomenon in Spain.

The set of videos analyzed comes from 40 YouTube channels since some of them publish more than one content. More than half of the videos (n = 32) come from common user accounts, mainly private citizens who choose to remain anonymous by not offering personal data either through the name of the channel or through the information provided about it (n = 24). After this category, media outlets’ accounts on YouTube are also significant (n = 18) as uploaders of content related to UFM in Spain. The activity as a broadcaster of alternative digital channels (n = 14) compared to the dissemination on

the subject at hand that, in this social network, is carried out by traditional media (n = 4) stands out. In the case of digital media, two accounts associated with EDAtv.com stand out: Estado de Alarma Oficial and Estado de Alarma Uncensored. As for the traditional media, Cadena Ser and El Mundo at the national level, and Radiotelevisión de Ceuta (RTVCE) at the regional level, are the only ones that have a presence in the sample.

Source: own elaboration.

The participation of political parties as uploaders is largely relegated (n = 7) and focused on far-right formations (Vox, España 2000, and the political movement Hacemos Nación). The absence, among the most viewed content, of videos broadcast from NGO channels or social movements (associations and groups of a humanitarian nature) is surprising, taking into account the high level of involvement that these organizations have in assisting UFM once they arrive at Spanish territory.

The discourse-message

Based on the characterization data, the date of publication of the video allows us to clarify which were the events that, regarding UFM, aroused the greatest interest from the point of view of diffusion (broadcasting).

Source: own elaboration.

Four key episodes seem to motivate greater activity on YouTube regarding the UFM phenomenon in Spain from September 13^th, 2020 to September 13^th, 2021. The volume of videos published begins to increase in November 2020, coinciding with the migration crisis that occurred in the Canary Islands, with massive arrivals of illegal immigrants through its coasts, in the last months of 2020. In January 2021, the attack on a minor in Barcelona by, allegedly, a group of UFM attracted the media interest and had its corresponding echo in social networks. The highest peak in terms of the broadcast of content seems to be linked to the prominence that, during the Madrid election campaign of May 4^th, 2021, the discourse of the far-right political party Vox had on UFM, with a special incidence of the controversy generated by the poster with which the formation tried to exemplify the expense that an unaccompa- nied minor supposes to the public coffers, opposing this cost to the pension that a retiree receives in Spain. Also significant is the number of contents that are disseminated on the platform during May 2021, the month in which the border political incident with Morocco occurred, which led to the massi- ve arrival of illegal immigrants in Spanish territory, mainly through the Ceuta beaches.

Discursive strategy

The narrative nature of the content is mostly emotional (n = 30), which points to the subjectivity that common users as prevalent issuers imprint on the content they disseminate about the UFM phenome- non in Spain. Even so, the percentage difference with those videos that deal with the subject from an informative point of view is not very significant, as regards the treatment that the media give to the content they broadcast. Humor has no place in the narrative that is spread on YouTube about the ad- dressed topic.

Regarding the approach from which audiovisual work is produced, the political (n = 25) prevails over the humanitarian one, which is almost residual (n = 3). However, most of the videos (n = 29) respond to approaches other than these, focusing on socio-cultural aspects or resorting to analytical and/or des- criptive positions in content development.

It is a criterion of interest in the narrative construction around the phenomenon of UFM in Spain to go to authorized sources whose statements contribute to enriching the discursive strategy proposed in the video (54.23%, n = 32). Although, and following the predominant political approach, it is the voice of characters in Spanish politics that is most used in this sense (n = 17). In the field of political statements included in the content, the presence of members of Vox (Iván Espinosa, Rocío Monasterio, Ángela Mulas, Iván Vélez) stands out, with special relevance to the figure of the formation’s president, Santia- go Abascal. The contribution of what experts on the subject may say, among whom we have considered all those people who work directly with UFM (managers, educators, social workers, volunteers, etc.) is not considered relevant in the discursive strategy (n = 2) that predominates in YouTube videos. In the rest of the cases in which the content includes statements (n = 13), the source of the statements is

journalists, neighbors, Judge Emilio Calatayud on one occasion, or Daniel Esteve –founder of Desoku- pa– on another. It is not characteristic of the videos that deal with UFM in Spain on the online platform to offer statements by the protagonists themselves in the first person. Only on 4 occasions, the video includes statements of a UFM.

Source: own elaboration.

In the discourse that, regarding the phenomenon of UFM in Spain, is broadcast on YouTube, the ne- gative bias towards minors is predominant (n = 39). Most of the videos criminalize and generalize them, extending the negative aspects linked to particular cases to the group as a whole. There are few contents (n = 11) that approach the subject from neutrality, objectivity, and analysis; and a minority are those that are elaborated from a positive vision (n = 6), showing the friendly face of the coexistence of a group of immigrants in a UFM center, inviting reflection on the reasons that lead these minors to flee alone from their countries or emphasizing the special attention that the condition of minors (children) of this type of illegal immigration deserves.

Representation of UFM through image and language

At the image level, the most common is that the videos do not show any UFM (61.40%, n = 35). In the cases in which these unaccompanied minors appear visually represented (38.60%, n = 22), they are mostly shown in neutral attitudes (31.58%, n = 18) in public places (parks, squares, streets), waiting patiently to be treated or in the custody of state security forces and bodies or members of NGOs. Al- though less frequent (5, 26%, n = 3), other times the minor is shown in uncivil actions such as jumping through a gate to private property or in cocky and defiant attitudes towards police authority. Only one video conveys a favorable view of UFM in the image, reflecting the reality of a group that lives in a center in Barcelona called Mas Pins: studying, playing football, harvesting in the garden, cooking, walking, playing music, etc., and most of the time with a smile on their face.

Two aspects are noteworthy in the field of image: on the one hand, the total absence of girls in the representation that is made of UFM in the analyzed videos, which shows the reality of the masculiniza- tion of the phenomenon of UFM in Spain; on the other, the violation of the right of people to their own image, especially in the case of minors; given that of 38.60% (n = 22) of the occasions in which the

minor is shown in an image, 31.58% (n = 18) do not pixelate or blur their face to preserve their identity.

In the field of language, most of the titles (52.63%, n = 30) express, through direct adjectives or by association with the verbs or terms used, a position of condemnation, protest, contempt, or disapproval of the presence of UFM in Spain. They are directly described as “chulitos, okupas, or delinquents”. In- directly, they are associated with the fact of generating insecurity (31.58%, n = 18) through words that allude to concepts such as danger, occupation, aggressiveness, delinquency, invasion, theft, or rape; with the expenses –unfair from these positions– that they suppose for the public coffers (8.77%, n = 5), or with constituting a problem for Spain (5.26%, n = 3). We briefly expose this typology through exam- ples of titles⁶ such as “ABASCAL DENOUNCES that UFM do not come to SPAIN to quote but for CRIME”, “�� “UFM” invade us.��⚔“, “IMMIGRANT UFM ATTACK AN ELDERLY MAN”, “��

MEN Sneak into PROPERTY in the South of Gran Canaria”, “UFM DEGRADE OUR NEIGHBOR- HOODS TURNING THEM INTO UNSAFE PLACES FOR SPANIARDS!!” “��LAST MINUTE��:

UFM CHALLENGES the NATIONAL POLICE in SPAIN” or “❌Spain cannot spend 98 MILLION on UFM while it has grandmothers with a €400 pension”.

On the other hand, regarding the language used to refer to UFM in the content of the video, in most (n = 35) we found allusions that suppose a frontal criticism of this group. In this sense, audiovisual works contain derogatory language, insults towards these unaccompanied minor immigrants, or incri- minating expressions. Likewise, language is used in a patriotic/nativist sense, emphasizing the diffe- rentiation between us/them, in a pejorative way that brands UFM as undesirable people. They are also blamed, through the language used in the videos, for the expense they generate for Spaniards and are sometimes represented as “free riders” alluding to the fact that they are not minors or that they are not in a vulnerable situation. Some examples of these categories are expressions⁷ such as:

a) Derogatory language/insults: “Chungos, unpresentable people, monstrosities”, “16-year-old drug addict, criminal kids”, “Aggressors”, “Miserables”, “They are savages”, “What a piece of garbage”, or “I’m sick of you”.

b) Incriminating expressions: “There are problems with machetes, stabbings, rapes, robberies”, “For me, UFM are a public danger”, “Occupying mafias”, “They are in the street frightening women or ro- bbing our children”, “Armed UFM groups”, “The highest rate of drug use is among children between 14 and 17 years of Muslim, Moroccan, or Algerian origin”, “The crimes that are most committed are robbery with violence and intimidation, pulls, stabbing with a knife, robbery inside vehicles, they inju- re each other, and attacks on the so-called educators”, “4, 5, or 6 come, they ask you for a cigarette and, as they ask for the cigarette, they take away the pack and at the same time they take away your mobile”, “They often show disruptive and criminal behavior that creates insecurity, fear, and discomfort among the neighbors and causes great social alarm”, or “Beatings, threats, and panic in Batán”.

c) Patriotic/nativist language (UFM as an undesirable person): “It is of vital importance that the coun- try not be overwhelmed by useless people”, “We do not have to carry the problems of others, we alre- ady have enough”, “When a minor is 18 years old in Spain and does not have a family or is uprooted, I can already assure you that he is going to live on the street and does not have a family to protect him, contrary to what happens with these UFM”, “These people do not have a place in Spanish society”, “We have to throw them out of Spain and have them serve their sentences in the prisons of their coun- tries”, “Christian and non-Muslim Spain. Illegal immigrants out of our country”, “Death to the Moor, them or us”, “Go to your country, that’s what you have to do, son of a bitch”, “the best thing for my children, not for these people who belong to another country”.

Footnote

⁶ All the examples that are exposed try to account for the obtained results. They are translated transcriptions of the titles of the videos that make up the sample, so they may contain grammatical inconsistencies or spelling errors. The authors of the research disassociate themselves from any grievance or offense that they may cause.

⁷ All the examples that are exposed try to account for the obtained results. They are translated transcriptions of the language used in the content of the videos that make up the sample. The authors of the research disassociate themselves from any grievance or offense that they may cause.

d) Incriminating language regarding the expense they generate: “These people are there, in all luxury, maintained with our money, while Spaniards, bankrupt, do not know how to make ends meet”, “Once you enter Spain and enter with the cataloging of UFM, don’t worry, in Spain you’re going to get rich. You and your family are going to get rich because they are going to regroup you, they are going to give you payments and money for the flights, cash for you to travel”, “A payment that they give them of 430 euros when they turn 18; they are not giving Spaniards even 5 euros”, “4 thousand euros a month for each minor in Madrid. Families would like to have 4 thousand euros a month for each child they have”.

e) Language that brands UFM as liars and profiteers: “They cheat with their age”, “Have you seen any immigrant with weight problems, skinny?”, “They do not flee from the war, they are not poor, they are posh, of the posh from there”, “These people do not come to Spain to integrate, to work. They come here to live the crazy life”, “All of them with soccer team jerseys”, “Many of them, I tell you, are not minors at all”, “They are not homeless”, “They do not have enough to live, they do not have enough to eat, but they go like brushes”, “Minors who have no family and are without roots, right? Well, we are seeing some here, their mother, in front of the apartment where they are”, “When they enter our country, most come with fake documents or lying, both about the country of origin and their age”.

Two key elements are detected in the use of critical language towards UFM: a strong subjective load in the arguments, based on personal opinions without documentary support or any evidence, and a forceful tendency to generalization, characterizing the entire group based on uncivil or criminal acts committed particularly by some.

Source: own elaboration.

The use of language in the content of the video to express an empathic or humanitarian position towards UFM is highly relegated in the total (n = 8). In these cases, verbal expressions are used to emphasize the status of minors (children) of these immigrants, to highlight the danger to which they are exposed during migration, to reflect on the causes of their migration, to emphasize the situation of vulnerability in which they find themselves when they arrive in Spain, or to try to criticize the genera- lization to which they are subjected in a negative sense.

Examples of this typology are expressions such as: “Morocco constantly plays with that cannon fod- der that is nothing more than children”, “The rights of these children do not have an accounting and economic discourse, they have the discourse of pain and helplessness”, “They are exposed to multiple cases of abuse and violations of their rights: for example, violence, trafficking, exploitation, rape, and even, for some, that trip means the loss of their own life”, “They face great deficiencies while they are here, increasing their vulnerability and stigma”, “We must remember that they are here alone, without family, without orientation, some learning the language, others trying to understand the new culture of the place where they have arrived”, “The most difficult thing for these children is to communicate because they must do it with gestures. If they don’t know the language, they gesticulate. If it doesn’t come out with their hands, they get nervous. They sweat; they have a lot of tension because their vo- cabulary fails. That stigmatizes and generates prejudice”, “They arrive here at a shocking moment in their lives because they have been with their family and what they find is a totally different world”, “They are clear that here they cannot verbalize that they want to return with their mom. That is taboo for them. They can’t say it but deep down they miss her all the time. They are always talking about their mothers, always”, “There are those who blame them for high levels of crime, however, there is no data to corroborate it”, “There can be no more cowardice than facing a child who lives alone”, or “Today we tell Rocío Monasterio and we tell Vox to get their hands off our children; mess with people your own size”.

On rare occasions, it is UFM in the first person who expresses themselves verbally in audiovisual wor- ks and, in those cases, their story reinforces the possible empathy towards their situation. For exam- ple, the phrases “If you are lucky, you get here, if not, you die at sea. I thought of my parents and my brother”, “Having a friend, a true friendship, helps us feel less alone because our parents and friends from before are no longer here”, or “We come here to achieve our dreams, to improve the lives of our families. We don’t come here to cause trouble.”

Incidence of Vox in the discursive strategy

Although the examination of the incidence of a certain group or organization in the discursive strategy of the most viewed videos on YouTube on the topic “UFM-Spain” was not initially contemplated, the development of the research pushes us to analyze and point out the weight that the far-right formation Vox has in the production/editing processes of the contents and their approach. This party is present in one way or another (as issuer, source of the statements, in titles, or in the content itself) in 58.39% (n

= 31), more than half of the analyzed videos.

Discussion and conclusions

Despite the novelty proposed by this research, a pioneer in the examination of the treatment of UFM on YouTube, the association that is made of this specific group with the rest of immigrants (over 18 years of age), detected in the development of the study, allows discussing the results obtained with the findings of those works that address how, in the set of conventional media and social networks, the migratory phenomenon is treated.

The discourse that is currently transmitted about UFM in Spain through the online video platform, al- though it is not politicized, given that the content that common users disseminate in this regard prevai- ls, it is strongly conditioned by the ideological argument that Vox exposes and defends regarding UFM. Not surprisingly, this far-right formation is present, in one way or another, in more than half of the content extracted from YouTube on the analyzed subject. The incidence of this political party is also evident in the fact that the largest volume of published videos occurs coinciding with the appearance, in the 2021 Madrid election campaign, of the controversial poster about the expense that UFM entails for the public coffers. Let us remember that social networks have profusely served political parties to spread their ideology and attack that of others, populating themselves with hoaxes, half-truths, and trial balloons (Cabezuelo and Manfredi, 2019; Galletero et al., 2020; Mendieta, 2020; Gil- Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas, 2021).

In this sense, the YouTube social network would be performing a function of disseminating hate speech (Ben-David and Matamoros-Fernández, 2016) towards the figure of UFM who arrive or are in Spanish territory. Hate speech implies the use of language that considers the migrant as an antithetical subject to national core values and as a threat to the values that underpin social coexistence and promotes messages that feed rejection, contempt, humiliation, discredit, and stigmatization of the individual or group based on attributes ranging from nationality to sexual orientation (Arcila et al., 2020; Torres, 2019; Tortajada et al., 2014). In the case of YouTube, this hate speech is presented constructed mainly through an emotional narrative based on the subjective opinions of private and/or anonymous citizens, who do not resort to authorized sources to validate their arguments. Mukhortikova (2020), Torres (2019), and Tortajada et al. (2014) also detected the use of subjective assessments lacking a plurality of sources in the discourses of users or collaborators of conventional media towards immigrants.

It is striking, in line with the findings obtained by Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas (2020), the total absence of NGOs or social movements as content creators that attract the attention of the users of this platform, given the high involvement of these types of institutions in the management of arrivals and their active participation in the government protection systems of the UFM. The experience of the people who are most directly related to them (educators, reception center workers, social workers, volunteers, etc.) hardly has a place in the representation of these children that is transmitted on this social network. The humanitarian perspective does not seem to arouse the interest of those who come to YouTube to find out about the situation of the UFM phenomenon in Spain. Although, these facts could be explained by the trend in consumption towards a political approach to this specific typology of migrants; From this perspective, the null presence of content published by channels of progressive political parties stands out. It is the “elite discourse” (Olmos-Alcazar, 2018) of far-right ideological parties and movements, mainly Vox, which has the greatest presence when statements are included in the content production.

Coinciding with the appreciation of numerous previous literature on the representation of the migra- tory phenomenon, in general (Acosta, 2015, 2016; Acosta and Martínez-Velasco, 2017; Arcila et al., 2020; Checa-Olmos and Arjona-Garrido, 2011; Cheng et al. al., 2009, 2010; Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas, 2020; Gómez-Quintero et al., 2021; Granados, 2007; Horsti, 2003; Igartua, 2013; Igartua et al., 2007, 2013, 2014 ; Martínez-Lirola, 2008; Muñiz et al., 2006, 2007a, 2007b, 2008a, 2008b; Nikolai, 2021; Olmos-Alcazar, 2018; Santamaría, 2002; Tortajada et al., 2014; Van Dijk, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012), or on child or young immigrants, in particular, (Ardévol, 2009; Doná and Veale, 2011; Martínez-Lirola and Olmos-Alcazar, 2015; Retis and García, 2010; Rosen and Crafter, 2018), the bias detected in this research towards the figure of the UFM is overwhelmingly negative.

The construction of the discourse based on negative attributes is based, fundamentally, on the lexicon used both in the titles and in the content of the videos. In the field of image, it is unusual for minors to be shown and when they are, they appear predominantly in a neutral attitude. These results disagree with those obtained by Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo-Rojas (2020) who detect the represen- tation of children through images that show them in a positive attitude (singing, dancing, playing, smiling). This difference may respond to the different situations of the minors according to the cases analyzed: children who spent days on a ship at sea, in overcrowded and unhealthy conditions, waiting to be welcomed by some country of the European Union – which aroused the alarm and the perception of a necessary humanitarian intervention–; against UFM that arrive in the national territory or are alre- ady under the tutelage of the public administration.

The visual analysis additionally provides some elements that deserve to be reviewed, such as the evi- dent masculinization of this specific type of migration or the worrying violation of the right to personal image and of the minor that occurs in most of the occasions in which some UFM appears represented in image in audiovisual works. The study by Mukhortikova (2020) points, coinciding with the present research, to the damage that revealing the identity of minors can cause to them. However, this viola- tion goes unpunished in social media which, as Merino-Arribas and López-Meri (2018) recall, are not subject to the professional ethics that do bind conventional media.

Most of the videos are framed under the general topic of the “Negative consequences of the presence of UFM in Spain” and, in these, the use of semantic fields associated with pejorative, demeaning, or excluding biases towards the figure of the minor prevails; something that Mukhortikova (2020) Ol- mos-Alcazar (2018), and Tortajada et al. (2014) already detected regarding the representation of adult immigrants. Through the use of incriminating language linked to terms such as “danger, invasion, aggressiveness, occupation, or crime”, among others, UFM are mainly associated with the fact of constituting a threat to public security. The preponderance of this association of the migrant with the concept of threat was initially observed by authors such as Bobo and Hutchings (1996) or Van Dijk (1997) and has subsequently been evidenced in the works of Arcila et al. (2020), Ardévol (2009), Gó- mez-Quintero et al., 2021; Torres (2019), or Tortajada et al. (2014), among others. The discourse focu- sed on the conflict, the confrontation, the clash that occurs between the primary population (native) and the secondary population (immigrants) (Cheddadi, 2020), is oversized (Nikolai, 2021; Tortajada et al., 2014) configuring a distortedly homogeneous representation of UFM as a source of insecurity, panic, and social alarm, as represented by the far-right party Vox (Cheddadi, 2020; Lava, 2021).

In the production/editing of content on the UFM phenomenon in Spain through YouTube, probably conditioned by the media publicity received by the controversial electoral poster designed by Vox for the Madrid elections on May 4th, the use of a discourse in which the UFM are blamed for the national expense that their guardianship entails, stands out. Not in vain, this representation of UFM as illegitimate consumers of the Spanish assistance system is another of the arguments put forward in the characterization of this group by the far-right formation (Cheddadi, 2020). Although, in terms of the migratory phenomenon in general, the consideration of the immigrant as an unfair burden for the economy of the host country was already evidenced by the works of Arcila et al. (2020), Cea D`ancona (2005), Olmos-Alcazar (2018), and Torres (2019).

This conception of the economic threat of UFM is linked to the discredit towards them, discursively representing them as “liars and profiteers” who receive, “without deserving it”, social and economic protection by the public administration that should be dedicated to nationals; an issue that links to the patriotic/nativist position that emphasizes the us/them differentiation, significantly present in this analysis, and a fundamental axis in Vox’s ideology (Cheddadi, 2020). The nationalist ethnocentric approach that promotes the reductionist us/them dichotomy in the representation of the migratory phenomenon was promptly revealed by the Colectivo IOÉ (1995) and later refuted by the studies by Gómez-Quintero et al. (2021) and Tortajada et al. (2014).

In general, how language is used in the content published on the online video platform to refer to UFM leads to a negative, and in our opinion, unjustified generalization towards all of this type of migrant. The facts of particular elements are attributed to the whole. The anecdote is decontextualized and oversized. Minors are not represented individually but as an amalgam, a mass (Martínez-Lirola and Olmos-Alcazar, 2015); a homogenization denounced by both Gimeno (2013) and Perazzo and Zuppi- roli (2018). This massification of the group also contributes to the invisibility and dehumanization to which UFM are subjected through the content about them broadcast on YouTube. Hardly any personal testimonies are collected that relate in the first person the migratory experience or the situation of these minors and only on these few occasions do we know their identity, which is largely ignored, presenting UFM as indeterminate, de-personified subjects (Martínez-Lirola and Olmos -Alcazar, 2015), whose identity is reduced to their status as immigrants. This invisibility of migrants as the protagonists of their own reality through the exclusion of their opinions and subjectivities in the story that is built about them through conventional and digital media is made explicit in the conclusions reached by Gil-Ramírez and Gómez de Travesedo- Rojas (2020) and Olmos-Alcazar (2018), evidencing the dele- gitimization of the figure of the immigrant that this type of discourse exerts.

The construction of a positive narrative towards UFM on YouTube is residual. The few contents that focus from a humanitarian perspective emphasize the condition of minors of these migrants through the repeated use of the term “children”, point to the risk they run during migration, reflect on the causes of this particular migratory phenomenon, or emphasize the situation of vulnerability that they experience once they arrive in Spain. The empathetic postures towards UFM are diluted in the whole, an aspect that is concurrent with the analysis of Tortajada et al. (2014) on the treatment of the migra- tory phenomenon in Spanish radio, in which they observe how interventions based on inclusion are absorbed by the predominance of an exclusionary context. Within the framework of the discourse that is constructed through positive attributes towards UFM, content that appeals to the humanitarian cha- racter is missing, which, in our opinion, should permeate the narrative about these minors, considering the need to work, from a humanized pedagogy (Patricia, 2020), the self-esteem of young people in full development (Odor et al., 2020). On the other hand, the absence of discourses that highlight the res- ponsibility of the type of migration management of the public administration in the lack of integration of UFM is also significant; an issue which Peláez (2010) points out.

YouTube users respond mostly with a passive interaction, viewing, to the content about UFM-Spain, and those contents that collect a higher number of actions that require a greater degree of involvement (clicking like/dislike or commenting) mostly represent UFM from the negative position; which points towards a more active attitude on the part of those users whose perception of these minors coincides with this representation.

In short, the narrative nature, the approach, the bias, and the language used in the most popular videos on YouTube about UFM in Spain, build a stereotyped and negative image of these children; which implies a high risk of socially emphasizing stigmatization, prejudice, the social gap, and, in general, promoting racism and xenophobia towards this group, if we consider the high level of penetration and the strong influence exerted, today, by the content posted on this social network. Instead of the precise normalization of cultural diversity in favor of social cohesion, a discourse is transmitted that mitigates the complexity of the arrival, adaptation, and socialization processes faced by this specific typology of migrants, simplifying the possible perception and social interpretation of the phenomenon.

Despite the limitations of this study in terms of the volume of the sample and the geographical dimen- sion (Spain), we consider that the intense qualitative analysis carried out represents a starting point in the necessary line of research on the representation and treatment of the specific migrant group constituted by UFM, who are especially sensitive and vulnerable, in our opinion, due to their con- dition as minors. This work can be the basis for future research that examines social networks other than YouTube or other geographical contexts and contributes to clarifying and delimiting the current situation regarding the image that is being transmitted to society as a whole about UFM through the digital environment.

Annex

Links to the videos that make up the sample: