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. EL PAÍS spoke with three young incels who described the frustration and loneliness that led two of them to consider committing violent acts.

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