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
Unraveling the Web: Hate Speech, Disinformation, Weaponization of History and Role of Mainstream Media
By Deeksha Udupa Apoorvanand Jha is a professor of Hindi at the University of Delhi. A well-known political commentator, he is also a columnist in leading newspapers, magazines, and news websites, writing broadly on education, culture, communalism, violence, and human rights issues. In this interview, Professor Apoorvanand shares his insights into the current landscape of […]
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 […]
Radio Canada: Anti-Muslim hate is on the rise in India, and it’s expected to get worse ahead of elections
According to a report released in February by IHL, India saw a large increase in hate speech in 2023, with a 62 per cent rise in the second half of the year. What we are witnessing is a huge wave of anti-Muslim hate speech, said the group’s founder, Raqib Hameed Naik. There were 668 hate speech events […]
Freedom House: Ahead of Landmark Elections, India’s Government Silences Dissent
Critics of Prime Minister Modi, the ruling party, or the Hindu nationalist policies that they champion are the prime targets of this censorship apparatus. In the first two months of 2024, the websites and social media accounts and posts that Indian authorities sought to scrub from the internet included Hindutva Watch and India Hate Lab, […]