Human Rights Groups Warn of Rising Islamophobia in Argentina
Human Rights Groups Warn of Rising Islamophobia in Argentina
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Human rights organizations have warned of a growing wave of anti-Muslim hate speech in Argentina, noting that it has escalated from online campaigns to real-life threats affecting the safety of families in their homes. They emphasized that targeting women and children constitutes a serious violation of human rights and undermines the country’s values of coexistence and pluralism.
The organizations called for the enforcement of stronger laws to combat hate speech and incitement, cautioning that failing to prosecute perpetrators normalizes digital violence and could pave the way for organized societal terrorism, threatening public peace and social cohesion.
The warning comes amid the case of Argentine citizen Yanina, who was reportedly subjected to an organized “digital terror” campaign, including explicit death threats and public harassment of her minor child on social media platforms. Yanina, a lifelong resident of Argentina, had not anticipated that her personal religious choices would make her and her family targets.
The harassment reportedly began when an extremist account on platform X promoted anti-Muslim rhetoric, escalating to doxxing that exposed her personal information and photos, including those of her child, alongside incendiary messages. Threats also extended to Instagram messages calling for her death or deportation and suspicious disappearances of private WhatsApp conversations, raising concerns over possible digital spying or hacking.
Fearing for their safety, Yanina restricted her online presence and limited her child’s public visibility, while filing an official complaint under “discrimination-related threats.”
Human rights groups concluded that Islamophobia in Argentina has moved beyond extremist online rhetoric to become a daily threat to Muslim families, urging authorities to take immediate measures to protect victims and hold instigators accountable under the law.
