SOCIAL MEDIA ALGORITHMS IN IRELAND AMPLIFY ANTI-MIGRANT CONTENT FUELING FAR-RIGHT HOSTILITY, AND RTA ACCUSES CAMBODIA OF PLANTING LANDMINES ALONG DEMINED BORDER THREATENING CEASEFIRE
- Senior Editor
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
August 7-13, 2025 | Issue 30 - Counter Threat Strategic Communications Team
Ludovica Leccese, Meaghan Mackey, Jacqueline Heier, Leon Kille, Meghan Terry
Clémence Van Damme, Senior Editor
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Social Media Content Targeting Asylum Seekers[1]
Date: August 8, 2025
Location:Â Ireland
Parties involved: Ireland; Irish government; Irish legal representatives; far-right actors in Ireland; asylum seekers in Ireland; migrant shelters in Ireland; state-run and NGO-operated migrant accommodation centers; Ireland public; Irish Media Commission; EU; EU digital space law Digital Services Act; social media platforms; social media users
The event: Social media algorithms are amplifying anti-migrant content, particularly videos targeting asylum seekers, fueling far-right hostility and offline attacks.[2]
Analysis & Implications:
The continued algorithmic amplification of anti-migrant content in Ireland will likely deepen the existing cycle of far-right mobilization, likely increasing the frequency and intensity of harassment against asylum seekers. Far-right actors will likely interpret the ongoing visibility of their content as validation of their tactics, with a roughly even chance that they will escalate to more coordinated actions such as targeting migrant shelters and organizing larger demonstrations. This perceived validation will likely reinforce a feedback loop in which far-right actors carry out these coordinated actions to create highly shareable content, very likely amplifying their online reach. Prolonged exposure to this content will very likely harden public attitudes toward asylum seekers, likely resulting in harassment or vandalism against state-run and NGO-operated migrant accommodation centers. Â
The spread of these harmful narratives online will very likely push the Irish government to prevent further dissemination by working directly with social media platforms. This collaboration will very likely utilize Ireland’s existing legal framework, particularly the EU's Digital Services Act, which will likely establish monetary incentives such as fines to ensure platform cooperation. These regulatory pressures will likely compel platforms to implement user-focused measures, including updated settings that give people more control over their algorithms. Ireland will likely formalize this partnership by requiring platforms to appoint legal representatives who work closely with the Irish Media Commission to secure the digital space.
Date: August 9, 2025
Location: Thai/Cambodian Border
Parties involved: Thailand; Thai government; Thai authorities; Royal Thai Army (RTA); Cambodia; Cambodian government; Cambodian authorities; international observers mediating the conflict negotiations;  regional economic and security cooperation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); ASEAN military attachés monitoring the ceasefire; humanitarian agencies
The event: The RTA issued a statement accusing Cambodia of having planted new landmines along its demined border, raising concerns over the recent ceasefire’s sustainability.[3]
Analysis & Implications:
Thai and Cambodian authorities will likely leverage competing claims about landmine incidents to justify border-tightening security measures, restricting humanitarian access in contested areas. Perceived escalation of landmine risk will likely prompt both governments to impose roadblocks and mandatory security checkpoints, very likely disrupting transit routes and forcing humanitarian agencies to abandon pre-planned itineraries for longer, less secure paths. These restrictions will very likely increase exposures to physical threats, including accidental landmine detonation or armed robbery at unofficial checkpoints. Such threats will very likely compel agencies to suspend or scale back operations in high-risk zones, very likely obstructing aid delivery through reduced aid convoy frequency and delayed arrival of critical food and medical supplies.
The RTA will very likely exploit this incident to gain a prophylactic strategic advantage in the cross-border conflict. The RTA will almost certainly continue disseminating claims of having repeatedly obtained empirical evidence for Cambodia’s breach of the ceasefire and the Ottawa Treaty, almost certainly framing their neighbor as the sole aggressor in this conflict. This narrative will likely aim to justify to international observers, such as ASEAN military attachés, that changing dynamics in troop deployments or weapon stockpiling are needed to protect border regions from Cambodia. Changes in military conduct, such as executing additional reconnaissance missions framed as routine border security enhancement operations, will likely provoke Cambodian diplomatic protests about Thailand's strategic advantage in the case of open conflict.
[1]Â Social Media Content Targeting Asylum Seekers, generated by a third party image database (created by AI) (This image pixelation has been enhanced by a third-party.)
[2]Â Social media algorithms are boosting videos of attacks on asylum seekers, Irish campaign group says, The Irish Times, August 2025, https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2025/08/08/social-media-algorithms-are-encouraging-anti-migrant-violence-says-campaign-group/
[3] Thai soldiers injured by landmine near Cambodia amid fragile ceasefire, Reuters, August 2025,