Democracy, public opinion and algorithmic literacy: the case of the Spanish xenometer (s-xenometer), artificial intelligence against xenophobia

• Pages: 677-696
• Author: Sergio García Magariño,Ignacio Sánchez De La Yncera,Mikel Ferrero Jaurrieta,Beth Lyon,Lucía Pérez Peña

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DEMOCRACY, PUBLIC OPINION AND ALGORITHMIC

LITERACY: THE CASE OF THE SPANISH XENOMETER

(S-XENOMETER), ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AGAINST

XENOPHOBIA.

SERGIO GARCÍA MAGARIÑO

Associate Professor of Political Science.

Public University of Navarre (UPNA). Spain.

IGNACIO SÁNCHEZ DE LA YNCERA

Full Professor of Sociology. Public University of Navarre (UPNA). Spain.

MIKEL FERRERO JAURRIETA

Assistant Professor of Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence.

Public University of Navarre (UPNA). Spain.

BETH LYON



LUCÍA PÉREZ PEÑA



(UPNA). Spain.

SUMMARY: 1. GENERAL FRAMEWORK: INTRODUCTORY CONTEXTUA-

LIZATION. 1.1. The nature of humanity’s most pressing problems. 1.2.

The need to innovate. 1.3. Technology, society and social research. 2.

THE SPANISH XENOPHOBIA METER. 2.1. Mid- and long-term vision. 2.2.

Work dynamics. 2.3. Technical remarks. 3. RESULTS, LIMITATION AND

FUTURE STEPS. 3.1. Results. 3.2. Limitations and future steps. 4. CON-

CLUSION

SERGIO GARCÍA / IGNACIO SÁNCHEZ / MIKEL FERRERO / BETH LYON / LUCÍA PÉREZ

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1. GENERAL FRAMEWORK: INTRODUCTORY CONTEXTUALIZATION.

This chapter aims to systematize and conceptualize a collaborative research

project launched at Cornell University (Cornell) in 20191 and in Spain with the

Public University of Navarra (Universidad Pública de Navarra [UPNA]) in 2024.

The project is an attempt to devise and train an algorithm capable of assessing

xenophobia online in various national jurisdictions. This paper reports on the

Spanish research, which is based at the UPNA.

The paper is structured around three threads. The first places the project

within a wider context, marked by the challenges humanity is facing, especially

with respect to democratic quality, the impact of digital social networks on

public debate, and the need to innovate to address global issues. Our work is

situated at the intersection of technology and society, in general, and of Artificial

Intelligence (AI) and social research, in particular. The second thread documents

and conceptualizes the work of the Spanish team at the Public University of

Navarra over a period of 14 months, from February 2024 to April 2025, and the

third presents some of the most salient results attained and puts forward the

next steps and some future lines of research and action.

The reason the chapter starts by examining the challenges that current

societies face is not only because science cannot be separated from the context

within which it operates, but also because the vocation of the social sciences

is both to describe evolving social reality and contribute to its transformation.

Furthermore, science does not only ‘analyse’ by breaking down phenomena

into smaller pieces to see their nature, connections and relations; it also

contextualizes, by placing phenomena in broader frames, whether historical,

cultural or territorial. Hence, from our perspective the explanation of even a

narrow, although rigorous, research project like the one proposed here, should

begin with an effort to frame it properly. This framing is linked to two more facts:

first, the fact that many social issues, like xenophobia, have a global dimension,

but politics is probably the less globalized social process; second, xenophobia

is not a simple prejudice. Nowadays, some organizations (including the US

government) use the many resources of the state and the most sophisticated

technological devices to promote hate speech against certain groups. For all

these reasons, a bit of context seems timely.

1 UMAROVA, Khonzoda, OKORAFOR, Oluchi, LU, Pinxian, SHAN, Sophia, XU, Alex, ZHOU,

Ray, OTIONO, Jennifer, LYON, Beth & LESHED, Gilly, “Xenophobia Meter: Defning and Measuring

Online Sentiment toward Foreigners on Twitter”, Proceedings of the Eighteenth International AAAI

Conference on Web and Social Media, 18, 2024, pp. 1517-1530. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/

KYR4IY (reporting US-based research methodology).