"Hate Online Kills Offline": Portuguese Police Post Anti-Radicalism Videos for Youth

(Photo from Pixabay)

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To protect young people from the "radicalism which leads to violent extremism", the Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ) began an online campaign, said the force's national director, Luís Neves, according to Expresso (January 13).

Both the Judicial Police and the government warned of the possible dire consequences of exposure to hate speech at the conference, Prevention of Online Radicalization of Children and Young People, in Lisbon at the Judicial Police building, which was attended by professionals in related fields.

Minister of Justice Rita Alarcão Júdice said that prevention would not be achieved through "surveillance bans".

"It must be anchored in digital literacy, critical thinking, human rights education, and the training of teachers and technicians to recognize signs and know how to act, with integrated responses at their disposal."

One of the campaign's most powerful videos, which contains images from PJ investigations, ends with a darkened bedroom with overhead lamps over an empty bed and a computer still turned on, but no one sitting on the desk chair. The bedroom door closes and ends the video. The music amplifies the message. Please see below:

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"The strategy of dehumanization and radicalization is the greatest ongoing threat."

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"The indicators of the increase in 'crime as a service' are worrying, in which criminal structures "make available illicit digital tools, including the use of artificial intelligence, with a view to expanding the phenomenon through radicalization and recruitment, especially of children and young people," said Luís Neves.

In another video, one personality after the other, including Calema, Daniela Melchior and Delfins, warn that "hate online kills offline: game over".

In an introduction to a video on Instagram, the police campaign explains that "no group, no game or challenge justifies your Game Over."

The explanation of a static post on Instagram says:

"The strategy of dehumanization and radicalization is the greatest ongoing threat. The digital spread of hate transforms frustration, maladjustment and the search for belonging into processes of radicalism. 'Homegrown' radicalization is defined by the European Commission as 'the phenomenon whereby people adopt opinions, viewpoints and ideas likely to lead them to commit terrorist acts'.

"To succeed, the contamination process follows a sequence: social and family isolation, lack of critical thinking and distortion of reality.

"At its core, misinformation reigns, conditioning occurs and anything goes to impress and gain status within the 'community' to which many young people adhere. Terror after terror, the violence escalates and the victims become hostages of increasingly bizarre and socially pathological schemes, true crimes against humanity."

Portuguese Influencers

As part of his doctorate, Ricardo Soares, a researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, analyzed the online presence of Portuguese influencers, reported Expresso (October 2, 2025). He identified "discriminatory" posts against immigrants, livestreams denouncing an alleged "invasion" of the country and the "theft" of jobs, as well as misogynistic positions, such as a committed woman does not have friends, does not go out at night and does not have Instagram along with "the best thing you can do for your wife is to get her pregnant and take her out of the job market".

The Portuguese Intelligence Service (SIS) is closely monitoring this surge in hate speech on social media, reported Expresso (October 2, 2025). Investigations already are underway at the Public Prosecutor's Office into Afonso Gonçalves, leader of the extremist group Reconquista, and digital content creator João Barboso, known as Numeiro. The latter has been the subject of more than 200 complaints filed with the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality.

Europol Removed Thousands of Links

On November 13, 2025, Europol, an anti-crime European Union agency, supported eight countries in identifying and removing racist and xenophobic propaganda on gaming and gaming-related platforms, according to its website. The countries were Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Referral Action Day led to the referral of thousands of URLs leading to dangerous and illicit online material.

There were 5,408 links to jihadist content, 1,070 links to violent right-wing extremist and terrorist content and 105 links to racist and xenophobic content.

"This joint action highlights the complexity of tackling terrorist, racist and xenophobic content online on gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms. Creation and dissemination processes are layered and often affect several platforms. For instance, content may be recorded within an online game (or its chat function), altered with violent extremist jargon, suggestive emojis, chants, or music, and then disseminated on a mainstream social media platform."

Perpetrators on gaming and streaming platforms also re-enact terrorist attacks, school shootings or execution scenes in 3D gameplay, then edit and disseminate them on social media platforms for wider reach.

Other gaming platforms are misused to recruit minors into various violent extremist and terrorist groups or to livestream real attacks and, even, suicides.