MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. A coordinated information campaign spreading claims that the border had been opened may have triggered the migration crisis in the Spanish city of Ceuta, the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) told TASS.
"It is highly likely that this was a coordinated campaign about the border being opened, coupled with the dissemination of various interpretations of changes to Spain’s migration legislation," the organization’s representatives said. The GFCN noted that almost all related content had already been removed from TikTok, as well as Facebook and Instagram (both banned in Russia and owned by Meta, designated an extremist organization in the country).
According to the GFCN, social media communities devoted to the incident in Ceuta "were generally called Hrig/Hraga Sebta or similar names." The association explained that "hraga", meaning "to burn documents or one’s past," is slang for illegally crossing a border, while "Sebta" is the Arabic name for Ceuta.
"The main trigger for this information campaign was a ruling announced by Spain’s Supreme Court on July 8. The court ruled that migrants intercepted at sea near Ceuta and Melilla could no longer be automatically returned to their country of origin. Each case must be reviewed individually in accordance with legal procedures," the GFCN said.
