Trapped by the incel' algorithm in Mexico: I thought I would always live miserably'

"William believed his life was a failure when he was just 16. It was 2021, and he was going through a personal crisis, comparing himself to other people. I'd never had a girlfriend, and my classmates made fun of me for being a virgin, he confesses. He felt like everyone had failed him. He went online looking for answers, and the algorithm guided him into incel forums, a digital universe filled with hate speech and threats that operates unchecked."

"Something similar happened to Javier, who fell into these blogs during the pandemic. He wanted to take advantage of the lockdown to get in shape by looking for exercise routines, but other suggestions popped up instead. Little by little, without realizing it, incel content appeared, he confesses. This movement, which is growing globally, conceals radicalized followers like Lex Ashton, the 19-year-old student who murdered a classmate at his school in Mexico City last week."

"Hopelessness kept William, 20, hooked on forums where misogyny flourishes. For him, those places proved liberating. Finally, I could listen to realities that had been worrying me and making me feel insecure without fear of retaliation, he says. He saw how the Facebook groups he belonged to grew from 4,000 members to tens of thousands in just a couple of years. His thinking has changed today: I'm pretty good. I have a girlfriend, I'm studying for a degree, I go to parties,"

Teenagers and young men experiencing loneliness and social rejection can be steered by algorithms into incel forums that normalize misogyny and extremist ideas. Individuals such as William and Javier describe falling into those online spaces during personal crises or lockdowns, finding immediate validation and a sense of belonging. The movement has expanded rapidly on social platforms, and it conceals radicalized followers, exemplified by a recent school murder. Forums amplified hopelessness and violent talk for some, while others later disengaged, formed relationships, resumed studies, and reported improved self-perceptions after leaving those communities.

Read at english.elpais.com