WASHINGTON, DC (September 28, 2026): Anti-South Asian hate in the United States has risen sharply since late 2024, with racist, dehumanizing, and xenophobic slurs and narratives targeting South Asians dramatically increasing across mainstream and fringe social media platforms.
A new report released today by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), “The Rising Tide of Anti-South Asian Hate in the United States,” examines the scale, nature, and tactics of online hate targeting South Asian Americans, including those of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and other South Asian backgrounds, across X, 4chan, 8chan, and Gab.
The report documents a sharp and sustained rise in anti-South Asian hate, with the hate steadily accelerating over time. The highest levels of hate were concentrated in recent months, indicating that anti-South Asian hate is intensifying rather than receding.
The report also finds that anti-South Asian hate cuts across national, religious, and political identities. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and other South Asian communities are frequently collapsed into one another and targeted with interchangeable racial and religious stereotypes. Similarly, South Asian political figures of diverse backgrounds from both major political parties have faced racist and xenophobic attacks.
Key Findings
- Anti-South Asian hate has surged across X and fringe platforms. More than half a million anti-South Asian posts appeared on X between January 2025 and June 2026. Monthly volume rose 75% during this period and 240% from January 2024 to June 2026. Five of the six highest-volume months occurred between November 2025 and June 2026, showing that anti-South Asian hate continues to intensify.
- Anti-South Asian hate remained deeply entrenched on fringe platforms. The report identified 397,522 hateful and dehumanizing mentions targeting South Asians across 4chan, 8chan, and Gab in 2025, with monthly volume remaining at a persistently high baseline for much of the year.
- Anti-South Asian hate cuts across national, religious, and ethnic lines, targeting diverse South Asian communities and often collapsing distinctions among them.
- Six key factors collectively drove the surge in anti-South Asian hate.
- Posts portraying South Asians as invaders, job thieves, and a demographic threat made up 45% of anti-South Asian hate on X, with H-1B visas and immigration serving as major drivers. These narratives also included Great Replacement and “remigration” rhetoric, while on fringe platforms they overlapped with antisemitic conspiracy theories.
- Slurs and dehumanization aimed at South Asians pervade every platform. The slur “pajeet” and its variants appeared in 30% of all posts on X and 45% of mentions on fringe platforms. Dehumanizing discourse related to the unclean and unhygienic character of South Asians grew the fastest of all narratives on X, rising 171%.
- There is a clear network of X accounts focused on doxxing South Asians, accusing them of taking American jobs or committing visa fraud, while some right-wing influencers harass South Asians at their homes and workplaces, film the encounters, and post the videos on X.
- South Asian public figures across party lines, including Republicans, faced racist and xenophobic attacks that framed their political participation in American life as a “takeover.”
- Documentary-style videos are a key tool for manufacturing claims of the “invasion” of American public and community spaces by South Asians. Social media influencers and right-wing groups produce videos that present South Asian neighborhoods, businesses, and temples as proof of a takeover, particularly in Texas.
- Generative AI is rapidly amplifying visual hate, turning anti-South Asian slurs and stereotypes into degrading and racist caricatures at unprecedented speed and scale.
The full report is available for download here.
For media inquiries or to request interviews with the report authors, please contact: [email protected]