Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH)

Happening now at Stanford University! Our second annual Big Tech, Democracy, and Human Rights Conference is underway, bringing together leading voices to examine the future of technology, democracy, and human rights. Grateful to our speakers, co-organizers, partners, and everyone joining us for these important conversations.

Just two days to go! This Friday, we are excited to convene the second annual Big Tech, Democracy, and Human Rights Conference at Stanford University. Bringing together leading scholars, researchers, journalists, and human rights advocates, the conference will explore the intersections of technology, power, democracy, and human rights, and what it will take to build a more just and accountable digital future for the Global Majority. We have reached full capacity, and registration is now closed. We are grateful for the overwhelming interest and look forward to welcoming everyone joining us in person. For those unable to attend, we will share recordings of the sessions following the conference. A special thanks to our co-organizers, Stanford Center for South Asia, Digital Rights Foundation USA, and Noor Network, and our co-sponsors, Stanford Critical AI, Santa Clara University’s Department of Communication, Dangerous Speech Project, and Stanford PIT Lab, for their partnership and support in bringing this conference to life. More details: csohate.org/big-tech-democra… #BTDHR2026

Islamophobia isn’t just fueling hate. It’s also becoming a tool for financial scams. A new CSOH–@CNN investigation reveals how overseas scam networks are weaponizing anti-Muslim bigotry and conspiracy theories to lure people in the US into crypto scams. Our research found that these networks use AI-generated anti-Muslim content, political impersonation, and fearmongering narratives to attract engagement and build credibility before directing users toward fraudulent financial schemes. Many accounts impersonated President Trump and members of his family, while others posed as pro-MAGA accounts. Read the full report: cnn.com/2026/11/03/us/islamo…

#NewReport: A new investigation by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) and @AP exposes a disturbing pattern of police shootings targeting Muslims over allegations of cow smuggling in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Known as “half encounters,” these shootings often involve people being shot in the legs, leaving many with lifelong injuries. We documented 645 such cases involving 772 victims since 2020. Nearly 93% of those injured were Muslim. Across hundreds of encounters, people were shot in strikingly similar locations, often just below the knee. Since 2017, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Uttar Pradesh, 12,890 people have been injured in police shootings across the state. The state government has not publicly released a religious breakdown of those injured. We shared our findings exclusively with The Associated Press, which independently reviewed more than 200 cases and interviewed affected families, police officials, and experts. The evidence collected on hundreds of shootings clearly shows that the state institutions, particularly the law enforcement, are increasingly being used as the vehicles for the persecution of Muslim minority. This appears to have evolved into a bureaucratization of persecution, where policing increasingly seems to appear to be intertwined with majoritarian politics. Read the full investigation: apnews.com/article/india-pol…

105 members of Congress have signed a letter calling on the FBI to investigate the recent attempted mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Illinois as a potential hate crime and examine whether the suspect received assistance or was radicalised online. The letter also draws attention to the rising anti-South Asian hate in the US and cites our recent research, which documents an explosive surge in online hate, including racist and dehumanising rhetoric and conspiracy theories rooted in Great Replacement. Full report: csohate.org/2026/09/28/anti-…

📣 Meet the speakers joining us for the Big Tech, Democracy, and Human Rights Conference on November 6 at Stanford University. At a time when rapid advances in AI are outpacing regulatory oversight, platform design is fueling digital harms, techno-authoritarianism is on the rise, and protections stop at the borders of a few wealthy nations, we bring together leading voices to examine what it will take to hold tech companies accountable to everyone they affect and to build a just digital future for the Global Majority. 📅 November 6 📍 Stanford University 🔗 Register: csohate.org/big-tech-democra… #BTDHR2026 #AI #digitalharms #st

Join us in Tokyo on October 30 for an event on migration, xenophobia, and the politics of belonging in Japan, co-organized with the Institute of Asian Migration at @waseda_univ. As more foreign residents build their lives in Japan, public debate about them has become more hostile. Kurdish and Muslim communities have been singled out, and much of that hostility is being fueled online, often borrowing from far-right movements abroad. Our speakers will share findings from their research, from survey data on public opinion to the everyday experiences of Muslim women. Can’t make it in person? You’re welcome to join virtually: tinyurl.com/tokyoevent

Two weeks ago, we released a comprehensive report documenting an explosive surge in anti-South Asian hate online. We warned that the proliferation of racist hate and conspiracy theories, particularly great replacement narratives risks fueling hate-motivated violence. Today, FBI announced the arrest of a 19-year-old man from Palatine, Illinois, accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Hindu temple. According to the Palatine Police Department, Alexandros Paporakis, who was taken into custody on October 11, had drafted a manifesto containing white supremacist extremist writings, including references to violence targeting people of South Asian descent, particularly Indians. While it remains unclear what role digital platforms played in his radicalization, we know that online hate, extremist propaganda, and conspiracy theories create pathways to real-world violence. The danger is not confined to digital spaces. This incident should be a wake-up call to confront the growing normalization of anti-South Asian hate with the seriousness it demands. Now more than ever, we need sustained prevention and early intervention to disrupt the pathways through which young people are drawn into extremist ideologies and mobilized toward violence. patch.com/illinois/palatine/…

CNN’s latest piece examines how right-wing figures like Christopher Rufo and Jonathan Keeperman are reviving the dangerous rhetoric of “Indian Question,” framing an entire community as a problem and echoing a history of exclusion, dehumanisation and violence. The piece features our research on the rise of anti-South Asian hate and an interview with our Executive Director Raqib Naik. “The real-world harm to these communities doesn’t happen as one straight step. It’s a process. This demonizing, this hysterical, stereotypical, violent language contributes to that process, and people with platforms as huge as Chris Rufo contribute immensely to that process,” Raqib Naik said. More: cnn.com/2026/10/10/us/word-o…