CSOH report finds rise in anti-South Asian hate online in US
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More than 5.4 lakh hateful posts targeting South Asians were shared on X by US-based users between January 2025 and June 2026, according to a report by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate (CSOH).
The report, titled “The Rising Tide of Anti-South Asian Hate in the United States”, examined anti-South Asian rhetoric on X, 4chan, 8chan and Gab. It found that hateful posts on X increased by 75% during the period, while their monthly volume rose 240% compared with January 2024.
Around 45% of the posts portrayed South Asians as “invaders” or “job thieves”, while the racial slur “pajeet” appeared in nearly 30% of anti-South Asian posts on X. On the three fringe platforms, 88,707 mentions invoked invasion or demographic replacement narratives.
The report identified hygiene-based dehumanisation as the fastest-growing category on X, accounting for 59,441 posts. Monthly posts in this category increased from 2,052 in January 2025 to 5,557 in June 2026. On 4chan, 8chan, and Gab, hygiene-related content accounted for about 17% of the dataset.
CSOH also documented accounts targeting people believed to be H-1B visa holders. Such accounts republished names, photographs, employment details, and other personal information, sometimes encouraging followers to report individuals to immigration authorities. The report also described influencers confronting South Asians at homes, workplaces and businesses and recording the encounters.
The study identified Texas, particularly the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Frisco, as a centre of online narratives about an alleged South Asian “takeover”. It also found growing use of AI-generated images depicting South Asians as vermin, scammers, sexual predators or culturally backward.
The report linked the rise in online hate to xenophobic nationalism, racial hostility, economic resentment, the political visibility of South Asians and the spread of racist content through internet culture. It warned that online and offline hostility could reinforce each other, with implications for civil rights, social cohesion and democratic participation.