diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
index 282c834..ae8d399 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/portlets/user/newsfeed/client/panels/NewsFeedPanel.java
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ public class NewsFeedPanel extends Composite {
 					else if (getHashtagParam() != null) {
 						String hashtag = "";
 						try {
-							Encoder.decode(getHashtagParam());
+							hashtag = Encoder.decode(getHashtagParam());
 						} catch (Exception e) {
 							newsPanel.clear();
 							newsPanel.add(new HTML("<div class=\"nofeed-message\"><div style=\"padding-top: 90px;\">" +