TIME: Indian Prime Minister Modi Accused of ‘Hate Speech’ Towards Muslims in Campaign Rally
Anti-Muslim hate speech has been soaring in India, with a recent report by the Washington-based research group India Hate Lab recording 668 cases in 2023. While 255 events took place in the first half of 2023, the figure rose to 413 in the second half of the year, marking a 63% increase.. The report documented that […]
CNN: Modi’s Muslim remarks spark ‘hate speech’ accusations as India’s mammoth election deepens divides
Anti-Muslim speech has risen dramatically, a recent report by the Washington-based research group India Hate Lab showed, which documented 668 such cases in 2023. Of these cases, 75% took place in BJP-ruled states, the report said. India prohibits hate speech under several sections of its penal code, including a section which criminalizes “deliberate and malicious […]
NPR: Hindu nationalist music could be destructive ahead of Indian elections, critics warn
Transcript of the NPR segment: RAQIB NAIK: Hindutva pop is part and parcel of almost every hate speech event in India today. HADID: Raqib Naik runs the India Hate Lab, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. He fears there’ll be more H-pop and more violence as election rallies fire up. NAIK: And if the […]
Independent: Third term for Modi and its implications for India’s 200 million Muslims
India Hate Lab, a research group in the US, documented 668 incidents of hate speech against Muslims in 2023, of which 413 took place in the last six months of the year, coinciding with key state elections. In the decade since Modi took power, “what has exponentially increased is runaway hate speech spouting venom against Muslims”, including calls […]
Index on Censorship: India’s hate speech trackers are being blocked
The website of India Hate Lab, another initiative by Naik that is exclusively dedicated to tracking hate speech in India, has also been rendered inaccessible in the country. Various law enforcement agencies have frequently attempted to erase Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab’s documentation of hate crime and speech towards minorities, primarily on the pretext of violating India’s […]
Newslaundry: How citizen-led initiatives safeguard democracy, electoral process
Raqib Naik, a journalist and founder of India Hate Lab and Hindutva Watch, said despite knowing about the prospective backlash, he felt the need to come up with a hate tracker project, and approach it in a “methodical way that employs journalistic rigour.” “I noticed that there were a lot of videos of hate crimes […]
FairPlanet: The Rising Tide of Hatred in India
A recent report from India Hate Lab, a Washington, DC-based organisation that tracks hate speech against religious minorities in India, noted that the country witnessed 668 hate speech incidents targeting Muslims. Approximately 25 percent (169) of these incidents involved speeches advocating for targeting Muslim places of worship. The report highlighted a pattern where hate speech events […]
Agence France-Presse: Online hate sows Muslim fears as India votes
India Hate Lab founder Raqib Hameed Naik said that the BJP’s IT Cell had generated anger towards minorities, by promoting the government’s Hindu-nationalist agenda. Naik, who documents hate speech against religious minorities, said the social media messages spreading during the Haldwani violence followed a pattern seen in previous riots. “First, hate speech against Muslims by […]
Channel News Asia (CNA): Fact Vs. Fiction – India’s Disinformation War (Documentary)
Why has fake news become an industry in India? Channel News Asia (CNA) traverse India to meet internet trolls, to understand the financial and ideological reasons that compel them into becoming agents of misinformation. Watch full documentary here
Independent: Muslim schools closed in most populous state ahead of major election
A large majority of these incidents occurred in states governed by the Hindu right-wing nationalist BJP, according to a report published this week by the India Hate Lab (IHL), a research group based in Washington, DC. The frequency of hate speech peaked from August to November last year – a period that coincided with political […]