Yogi Adityanath’s face fills the screen before a single lyric is sung. The Hindu monk-turned-politician, who governs India’s most populous state, is pictured as dramatic music swells beneath images of cows, saffron flags and Hindu nationalist iconography. Then comes the threat.
In “Gau Mata” (“Mother Cow”) posted on YouTube, singer Biru Kataria warns India’s Muslims that anyone who slaughters a cow will be hunted down, burned alive and cut to pieces. The song repeatedly uses the slur “katwein,” a derogatory reference to circumcision, to describe Muslims.
A new report by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), a Washington-based research organization, argues that this ecosystem of hate music is being hosted, amplified and monetized by four of the world’s largest digital platforms: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Meta.
The report, “Profiting From Hate Music,” documents what researchers describe as the first comprehensive mapping of hate music across India’s digital landscape. It identifies 523 songs that promote hatred, dehumanization, conspiracy theories or violence against religious minorities, primarily Muslims and Christians, in violation of platforms’ content policies.