Discursos contrarios a la educación sexual en España argumentario mediático y agentes de referencia en Twitter (X)

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the discourse against sex education on Twitter (X) in order to detect the keys of the narrative used and the central categories of the discourse; delving into the trends of its dissemination. To do so, we focus on the publications of two key entities in the defense of “parental pin” in Spain: Profesionales por la Ética and Educadores contra el Adoctrinamiento. The information is collected from data mining and participant observation techniques. The analysis presents both a quantitative approach to frequencies and references, and a qualitative treatment in the form of sentiment analysis. The data show that the discourse focuses on the defense of the freedom of families to decide on the education of their children, and on the opposition to sex education as a curricular element. For this purpose, a direct attack is carried out towards the LGTBI+ collective, certain political representatives linked to the left and the public system, with a focus on the educational network, including schools and teachers.  The analysis also shows the conflict between this narrative and the right to education and freedom of education, and how it becomes a weapon of political and partisan pressure. Conclusions are presented and those findings are discussed with other studies in relation to hate speech and the political strategies of the extreme right and ultra-Catholicism with which our data show agreement. Finally, limitations and future proposals are pointed out.