Rita Guerra discusses rise in hate crimes in Portugal on Antena 1’s “Old Friends” podcast

Rita Guerra, lead researcher and coordinator of the European project kNOwHATE, was a featured guest on the Antena 1 podcast Old Friends, in an episode titled “Hate crimes” dedicated to the recent surge in hate crime reports across Portugal.

In the episode, Rita Guerra presented findings from the kNOwHATE project showing a significant increase in hate crimes and hate speech incidents reported to Portuguese authorities. In 2024 alone, 421 such crimes were registered, the highest number since records began, marking a rise of over 200% in the last five years.

Guerra also shared key findings about online hate speech, emphasizing the prevalence of indirect hate speech over direct hate speech on platforms like YouTube and Twitter/X. She explained the linguistic and emotional differences between the two, and highlighted the growing role of counter-speech — especially on Twitter/X — as an essential strategy to push back against online hate. The researcher further noted the lack of an adequate institutional response in Portugal and called for increased investment in monitoring, training, and public awareness to combat this escalating problem.

The Old Friends podcast, known for its blend of personal memories and reflective dialogue, provided a thoughtful platform for this timely conversation — bridging lived experience and scientific insight on one of Portugal’s most urgent social issues. Listen to the episode (in Portuguese) here: https://www.rtp.pt/play/p5481/e862599/old-friends