Anti-South Asian hate posts on X surged, driven by political rhetoric, immigration debates, and economic anxiety.
Nearly half the posts framed South Asians as job thieves or demographic threats.
Researchers warned online hostility is spilling into real-world violence
Anti-South Asian hate posts on X (formerly Twitter) in the US surged 240% between January 2024 and June 2026, rising from 12,904 to 43,843 a month, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate.
The report says abuse aimed at Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in the United States has risen fast online. It ties the increase to US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and rhetoric, economic anxiety, and the South Asian community’s growing visibility in US life.
Researchers found that more than 542,000 hateful posts targeting people from South Asia living in the US appeared on X between January 2025 and June 2026. Five of the six highest-volume months came in the closing stretch of that period. The study used the United Nations definition of hate speech. Researchers reviewed posts to exclude criticism that did not meet that threshold.
On X, almost half the hateful posts cast South Asians as invaders, job thieves, or a demographic threat to the US. The derogatory term “pajeet” and related words showed up in 30 per cent of hateful posts on X.
Posts portraying South Asians as dirty or unhygienic spiked by 171 percent on X, marking it as the fastest-growing hate narrative on the platform. This rhetoric routinely lumps diverse groups together. Attackers collapse distinct ethnic identities, treating Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis as interchangeable. It also erases religious differences among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians.
Although anti-South Asian racism has deep historical roots in the US researchers note that the current surge stems from a mix of longstanding bias and fresh political and economic pressure.
A central point in the report is the H-1B visa program, which allows US companies to hire foreign professionals. With Indian workers holding over 70% of these visas, researchers observed direct spikes in online abuse following political battles over the program.
Researchers write that online hate “does not exist in isolation from offline forms of hostility” even though the report focuses mainly on what is happening online. It cites two US stabbings: one in Utah in July and one in Wyoming in September as examples of how that hostility can spill into violence.
Researchers found X accounts exposing private details of South Asians accused of job theft or visa fraud, while some influencers have confronted people at their homes and workplaces before uploading the encounters online. Researchers said generative AI content has portrayed South Asians as “filthy and unclean, sexually predatory, culturally backward, or a demographic threat”.
