RT Journal Article
T1 From marginality to mobilization: the emergence of a pro-Russian digital community in the Spanish speaking sphere
A1 Moral, Pablo
A1 Torres-Soriano, Manuel Ricardo
K1 Digital communities
K1 Ukraine war
K1 Russia
K1 YouTube
K1 Content moderation
AB This study examines the formation of a Spanish-language digital community on YouTube alignedwith Russian narratives during the Ukraine war, following the March 2022 EU and YouTube bans onRT and Sputnik. We focus on eight channels that presented themselves as independent alternativesto mainstream media narratives about the conflict. Through computational analysis of909,913 comments from 226,038 users (February 2022–February 2025), we document this communitythrough three converging lines of evidence: substantial subscriber growth from minimalprior audiences, significant cross-channel audience interconnection, and discursive alignmentsupporting Russia while expressing hostility toward Ukraine, Western allies, and mainstreammedia censorship. The findings suggest platform restrictions may have inadvertently strengthenedthis community by providing mobilizing persecution narratives. Notably, Spanish functioned asa transnational bridge, enabling European-based creators to reach both restricted Europeanaudiences and other Spanish-speaking viewers worldwide, undermining the geographic specificityof content bans and amplifying the reach of these narratives. This research illustrates challenges ofcontent moderation in multilingual, globally connected digital ecosystems.
PB Routledge
YR 2026
FD 2026-07-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/27275
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/27275
LA es
NO Pablo Moral & Manuel R. Torres-Soriano (24 Jul 2026): From marginality to mobilization: the emergence of a pro-Russian digital community in the Spanish-speaking sphere, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, DOI: 10.1080/19331681.2026.2706787
NO Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Departamento de Derecho Público
DS RIO
RD Aug 5, 2026