What's behind the rise of European 'decline porn'? | DW News

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]This is the worst place I've ever been.

[00:00:01]The German degradation.

[00:00:03]>> When you think of Berlin, you think of history.

[00:00:05]>> This is decline porn. Content creators are reckoning up millions of views with this type of video. Often portraying European cities as unsafe and unclean, overwhelmed by crime, drugs, and immigration. They claim to show reality raw and unfiltered. The gist, European cities are fallen.

[00:00:21]>> Areas, neighborhoods are being taken over by, in this case, Arab people.

[00:00:27]>> This side of Russ is very ugly, guys.

[00:00:29]It's depressing for a Belgian, for a white guy like me.

[00:00:32]>> This is Belgian content creator Young Jamie who jumped on the trend. He used to post videos of himself sneaking into amusement parks or spending the night at IKEA. Now he's exploring Belgium's dangerous neighborhoods.

[00:00:44]>> I do it for engagement. It's It has good views. I'd want to be like a a travel YouTuber, but don't always go to dangerous neighborhoods. I also want to go to like nice neighborhoods, like interesting neighborhoods, but I think it's it's better for me to go in the beginning to uh dangerous neighborhoods and make a name for myself.

[00:01:01]>> And he might just succeed.

[00:01:03]>> Clamp porn videos have plenty of the ingredients that experts say drive the attention economy on social media.

[00:01:08]>> There is some evidence that content that is more emotional, more negatively charged, content that creates more outreach, creates more engagement, and therefore potentially more income for the for the influencers. I'm showing you the Belgium side. The normal media doesn't want you to see. Guys, >> I film what I see. If my video is shocking, that's because the reality is also shocking, right? I don't um fake anything.

[00:01:31]>> There's no question that crime, violence, and open drug use are a reality in Europe and sometimes concentrated in certain urban areas.

[00:01:38]Anybody who's been to Frankfurt Central Station can attest to that. But they would also know that just a short walk down the street, the picture looks very different. You could find evidence for every reality that you want to find evidence for, right? They're very really framing some very particular areas of some urban cities and they are creating um a unified simple narratives about very different urban realities.

[00:02:00]>> While decline porn comes across as an objective documentation of reality, some creators are rather vocal about their opinion who's responsible for it. As you might guess, immigration plays a major role with content creators willingly or not often repeating right-wing talking points. certain places in Europe are not even recognizable frankly anymore.

[00:02:19]>> You're in a different country. Is this even Europe where we're in?

[00:02:22]>> Yeah, I'm rightwing and I come out as that. I think Western cities are are are kind of declining under mass migration.

[00:02:28]And I have to say like I think really it's it's it's becoming worse and worse.

[00:02:32]>> An extensive 2024 study found there's no empirical evidence that higher immigration leads to more crime despite the persistent belief that the two are related. While it's true for many European countries that immigrants are over represented in prisons, for example, this is not due to them being foreign born, but rather because of systemic factors such as limited resources, discrimination, and access to labor markets. The study's authors suggest that more restrictive policies on immigration could even backfire by pushing immigrants into irregular situations and thus increasing the likelihood of crimes.

[00:03:02]>> What the hell is Europe becoming? This whole place here is just like a drug den basically. They are creating a simple narrative about the decline of western civilization and using a scapegoat such as often very racialized people, migrants of different ethnicities, different religion puts uh the blame about uh some some issues are much more complex.

[00:03:24]>> It's all formed completely taken over.

[00:03:27]You >> just can't find anyone that looks like you, talks like you, and has the same ideas as you. Correct.

[00:03:32]>> But you can get some great curries and great kebabs. So, >> well, now that we've got the recipes, they can go back, right?

[00:03:38]>> That's right.

[00:03:38]>> Not all the client punk creators are explicit about their political stance, but their success is certainly amplified by the fact that migration remains a highly divisive and debated topic in European politics. Creator Kirk Cass has even been accused of altering a scene with AI to make his thumbnail seem like London has been taken over by minorities. But, it's difficult to tell if this is a one-off or common practice.

[00:04:00]When it comes to young Jaime, at least, he wants to stay true to what he sees.

[00:04:04]If it's good, I'm going to say it. If it's bad, I'm going to say it.

[00:04:06]>> To my surprise, this city actually has a friendly vibe. People here actually want to greet you. I don't really know if it's that dangerous, but statistically this is one of the most dangerous cities here in Belgium.