Season 4 - Episode 1

Season 4 of our YouTube series, Under the Microscope, takes a bold and necessary look at one of South Africa’s most dangerous and deep-rooted social issues: xenophobia, and more specifically, Afrophobia, the hostility and discrimination directed at African foreign nationals living in South Africa.

Produced in partnership with our long-time collaborators and research partners at the Centre for Analytics & Behavioural Change (CABC), this season was inspired by the findings of their Beyond Borders Report. The report uncovered how coordinated networks of political actors and online organisations have been actively spreading misinformation and disinformation on social platforms like X (formerly Twitter). These campaigns are not accidental. They are strategic digital manipulations, designed to incite fear, fuel anger, and divide communities by targeting vulnerable foreign nationals.

Episode 1 introduces viewers to xenophobia not just as individual prejudice, but as an organised hate movement. It explores the digital mechanics behind this rising tide of online hatred — from hashtag hijacking and meme warfare to troll farms and bot amplification. The episode draws sobering parallels between these campaigns and historic propaganda efforts used by apartheid architects, Nazi Germany, and even modern far-right populist movements like MAGA in the U.S.

As a content marketing firm specialising in social impact storytelling, Iron Heart was tasked with translating this data into emotionally powerful, visually compelling content that invites reflection, not just reaction. Our goal wasn’t just to inform (or incite anger from xenophobes or citizens prone to feeling xenophobic about so-called “illegal immigrants”), but it was to encourage dialogue, shift preconceived notions, debunk false narratives and make the systemic nature of xenophobia impossible to ignore.

Through a combination of visual storytelling, expert interviews, and behavioural insight, Under the Microscope helps South Africans recognise how hate spreads — and how we can push back with truth, empathy, and awareness.

Because challenging hate starts by seeing it for what it really is.