August 15: the video that breaks the average“Whoever is going on August 15, 2026, leave a heart.” Videos posted by Moroccan users on Instagram mention August 15 in connection with a possible new mass crossing from Morocco to Ceuta or Melilla. Posts like this have generated hundreds of thousands of views despite being published by accounts with relatively small numbers of followers.For example, one user with 213 followers posted a video about the possible crossing on that date that has accumulated more than 290,000 views. The reach of these posts shows how Instagram amplifies this content through its algorithm, promoting content about irregular migration that could endanger the lives of people attempting another crossing to Ceuta after being encouraged by these posts.To put this into perspective, we compared this video with all the posts each profile had published between July 26 and August 11, 2026. On average, the video about August 15 received 70 times more views than the rest of the content posted by the same account during the period analyzed.When a reel mentions August 15, it becomes the most-viewed post during the period for 44 of the 50 users analyzed, or 88%. On another four profiles, it ranks second; on three of those, the most-viewed video is also about migration, while on the fourth it is about football. Ten profiles had not posted any other videos during the period; nevertheless, their posts about August 15 averaged 154,060 views.Comparison of views for the reels of one of the profiles: the most viral one (124,000 views) includes the date August 15 and a false claim debunked by Maldita.es.This difference from the accounts’ usual performance stands out across several of the profiles analyzed. On one of these profiles, the video about August 15 received 690 times the average number of views of the account’s other posts during the period (548,000 views compared with an average of 794 views for the other videos). In other words, these are not accounts that normally have a large reach; rather, in many cases, content about August 15 represents an extraordinary spike compared with their usual performance.Thousands of followers but hundreds of thousands of viewsThere are also significant differences when comparing the number of views with the number of followers these profiles have. In one case, a profile with just 213 followers reached 294,000 views in only 12 days after publishing its post about August 15. That is equivalent to 1,380 views per follower.Profiles with fewer than 1,000 followers and reels about August 15 with more than 130,000 views.Virality also influences what they postThese findings show that the number of followers does not explain the reach these posts have achieved. These profiles go viral because Instagram’s recommendation algorithm promotes their content beyond their existing follower network. In addition, these videos have sometimes been forwarded to WhatsApp channels where people are also organizing for a possible crossing on August 15, as we have previously reported at Maldita.es.Following Instagram’s amplification of content related to the crossing to Ceuta, some users shared more posts on the same subject, both about a possible new crossing and about migration to Spain.Among the profiles analyzed, 12 had posted more content on the same topic after their viral reel. One of them went on to publish eight more videos about the subject in the following days.One of the profiles that continued sharing migration-related content after its viral post.The algorithmic amplification of dangerous contentThe number of views a social-media post receives depends on how widely the algorithm decides to distribute it. In this case, this amplification takes on crucial significance following the crisis in Ceuta on July 30, 2026, in which at least 80 people died during the crossing of 80,000 people from Morocco, according to figures provided by the Spanish government.Instagram’s recommendation systems continue to increase the visibility of content that could encourage irregular migration, specifically an activity that could potentially be dangerous for people who decide to attempt the crossing by swimming, by turning posts, even those from accounts with small audiences, into content with hundreds of thousands of views.This is not the first time recommendation algorithms have come under scrutiny because of the type of content they direct users toward. In the United States, for example, a court has held Meta responsible for the role of its recommendation systems in exposing young users to sexually explicit material and predators, finding that these systems actively contributed to directing users toward such content.European regulation itself recognizes that recommendation systems can play a role in spreading potentially harmful content. The Digital Services Act (DSA), which applies only in European Union countries, requires large platforms such as Instagram to assess and mitigate systemic risks associated with the dissemination of dangerous content.
Metodología
Maldita.es collected and analyzed videos posted by 50 Instagram profiles between July 26 and August 11, 2026. To select the profiles, we required that each one had published at least one video about a possible crossing to Ceuta from Morocco on August 15, 2026.
">
Metodología
Maldita.es collected and analyzed videos posted by 50 Instagram profiles between July 26 and August 11, 2026. To select the profiles, we required that each one had published at least one video about a possible crossing to Ceuta from Morocco on August 15, 2026.
