Anti-Indian racism on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has intensified dramatically, with 680 high-engagement racist posts accumulating more than 281 million views between July and September 2025, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Organised Hate (CSOH).
The report, released on 16 September 2025, maps the landscape of anti-Indian hate speech on the platform, revealing that nearly 70 per cent of racist content framed Indians as “invaders” and “job thieves,” whilst calling for their deportation from the United States and other Western nations.
“Immigration and calls for deportation are thus the central pillars and main drivers of anti-Indian racism on X,” the report states. The 474 posts in this category alone garnered 111.8 million views, making immigration and expulsion-themed rhetoric the primary driver of engagement.
The research identified a sharp spike in racist activity during August 2025, when 381 posts collectively received nearly 190 million views. This surge coincided with two major developments: the escalation of the US-India tariff war and a fatal truck crash in Florida on 12 August involving a Sikh driver, Harjinder Singh.
The Florida incident, which resulted in three deaths, became what researchers described as a “flashpoint” that was exploited to stigmatise entire communities through occupational scapegoating. The 74 posts related to this single event amassed 94.9 million views, illustrating how individual incidents can be weaponised to amplify hatred against minorities.
H-1B visa resentment emerged as a particularly prominent narrative within anti-Indian racism. The report notes that Indians account for over 70 per cent of all H-1B visas issued annually, making them targets of claims that they are displacing American workers from well-paying jobs in STEM fields, particularly in locations like Silicon Valley.
“Anti-Indian racism pointedly targets Indians who are the biggest beneficiaries of H1-B visas,” the researchers found, adding that the rhetoric blends xenophobia with economic insecurity to amplify calls for visa bans, deportations, and even denaturalisation of Indian-Americans.
Racist slurs and mockery formed another significant category, with 121 posts using terms like “pajeet” and tropes depicting Indians as dirty or unhygienic. These posts drew 74.3 million views and, according to researchers, “normalise and reinforce anti-Indian hate on X” by providing “cultural scaffolding for more explicit exclusionary and hateful rhetoric.”
The geographical analysis revealed that approximately 65 per cent of posts were US-centred, confirming the United States as the epicentre of anti-Indian digital racism during the study period. The remaining posts referenced countries including Canada, the UK, Australia, Ireland, Japan, and locations across Europe.
The report situates the surge in anti-Indian racism within broader global trends, including the worldwide backlash against migrants and the rise of far-right political movements. It notes that anti-Indian hate intersects with xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant discourse, with Indians targeted both as highly skilled migrants and undocumented immigrants.
“Online hate has serious consequences for minorities, including emboldening far-right extremist groups, exponentially increasing the threat of violence, and enabling real-world physical harm against them,” the report warns, citing physical attacks against Indians in Ireland amplified by social media racism.
The Indian-American population in the United States numbers 5.2 million, with estimates of unauthorised migrants of Indian origin ranging from 70,000 to 220,000. Over one million Indians are currently queuing for green cards, whilst the number of Indian students exceeds 330,000.
CSOH’s report concludes with seven recommendations for X, including better recognition of anti-Indian racial slurs, improved stakeholder engagement, enhanced reporting tools for intersectional hate, stronger enforcement options, proactive use of Community Notes, greater transparency, and development of counterspeech strategies.
“In recent months, social media platforms have abandoned measures for combating misinformation and have walked back their policies against violence and, in the US, against online hate speech,” the researchers note, emphasising the urgent need for consistent enforcement of anti-hate policies.
The methodology involved collecting posts using keywords such as “pajeet,” “Indians smell,” “H1B scam,” “Indians stealing jobs,” and “Deport Indians.” Posts with fewer than 1,500 views were excluded to focus on content with significant reach.
The full report is available at: https://www.csohate.org/2025/09/16/anti-indian-racism-on-x-july-september-2025/
Authors of the report include Raqib Hameed Naik (CSOH) and Rohit Chopra (Santa Clara University), with data analysis by Zenith Khan, Sourav Dihingia, and Saaima Khan.
