Highlights from the “Big Tech, Democracy, and Human Rights in South Asia” conference held this Wednesday at the UC Berkeley.

We brought together journalists, digital rights advocates, and scholars to examine how social media platforms are reshaping democracy and human rights across South Asia.

The New York City mayoral elections revealed how quickly online dehumanizing, Islamophobic rhetoric can take hold and how dangerous it becomes in a country already grappling with polarization and rising political violence.

Our research featured on @aljazeera.com

I'll also share some analysis @csohate.bsky.social did regarding Islamophobia in the NYC mayoral election as it appeared on X/Twitter. This provides some more context on the broader landscape these attacks on CAIR occurred in.

www.csohate.org/2025/11/03/i...

I wrote about the recent attacks on Indians in Ireland for the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, and the need for the political and media establishment to reckon with their role in creating an increasingly hostile atmosphere for immigrants

www.csohate.org/2025/08/14/r...

How do "community" fact-checking tools operate in South Asia where misinformation is entangled with high levels of political polarization, religious & ethnic divisions, and a massive user base generating multilingual content?

Read this new report by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate ⬇️

And as Mamdani's campaign continued, the Center for Study of Organized Hate tracked over 35,000 examples of xenophobic and anti-Muslim content on X from June to October 2025.

Islamophobia and the New York City Mayoral Election

New report out by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate

We analyzed the scale of hate on X targeting @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social throughout the election campaign ⤵️

www.csohate.org/2025/11/03/i...

Fun times this morning at the College Freedom Forum! And by ‘fun’ I mean some good and scary (but not hopeless!) discussions about authoritarianism.

AI tools amplify anti-Muslim hate on Indian social media: think tank

"That's only a microcosm of what's happening at a much larger scale across digital platforms in India," Raqib Hameed Naik, founder and executive director of CSOH, told Nikkei Asia.

trib.al/W95l5ka

In Germany, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is weaponizing AI generated imagery to craft hyper-nationalist, anti-refugee, and Islamophobic aesthetics, turning social anxieties into imagined threats to the country.

Read: www.csohate.org/2025/10/13/a...

When Kabul fell in 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans turned to the US for refuge. Many arrived with the expectation of safety & stability.

Four years later, they find themselves navigating a different kind of threat: a growing wave of anti-Afghan sentiment.

Read: www.csohate.org/2025/10/23/a...

Our latest data shows a disturbing escalation of online hate targeting Zohran Mamdani and Muslim New Yorkers on X (formerly Twitter). Between November 1 and 5, we recorded 7,449 Islamophobic and xenophobic posts, with a staggering 5,307 (71%) posted on just November 4 and 5.

Next Wednesday (November 12), the Big Tech, Democracy, and Human Rights in South Asia conference will take place at the University of California, Berkeley.

Registration details: www.csohate.org/big-tech-dem...

#SouthAsiaTechConf2025

What we witnessed around the New York City Mayoral elections reflects a broader and growing pattern of dehumanising rhetoric against Muslims that has taken deep root in American public life.

Our latest report uncovers a staggering campaign of Islamophobia and xenophobia on X (formerly Twitter) that reached 1.5 billion impressions targeting Zohran Mamdani during the New York City mayoral election.

More: www.csohate.org/2025/11/03/i...

#mamdani #zohranmamdani #nyc