2024 ‘critical year’ for hate speech in India, warns new report
Published on: 29 February 2024, 02:04 pm
A report by Washington-based India Hate Lab discloses an attempt of normalisation of hate speech as central to the Hindu right-wing's project of transformation of India into a de facto Hindu nation.
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A recent report has termed 2024 a "critical year" for hate speech in India.
This analysis by India Hate Lab gains significance in the backdrop of the 2024 general elections in India, which are only months away.
India Hate Lab is a Washington DC-based research group run by a dedicated team of journalists, academicians and researchers. The objective of the research group is to document, study and analyse hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories that target India's religious minorities, both in the digital realm and in offline spaces.
In its report, the lab has documented 668 instances of hate speech events targeting India's religious minorities, particularly Muslims, in 18 states and three Union territories in 2023.
The report states that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states are more prone to hate speech events. It documents that of a total of 668 instances of hate speech, 453 (68 percent) occurred in BJP-ruled states.
Most instances of hate speech occurred in Maharashtra (118), followed by Uttar Pradesh (108), Haryana (48), Uttarakhand (41), Karnataka (40), Gujarat (31), Chhattisgarh (21) and Bihar (10).
The report indicates increasing evidence suggesting a link between hate speech events, a spike in communal tension and violence, a phenomenon more sophisticatedly manifested through the widespread use of social media.
The report concludes that there is an "alarming trend" that suggests a persistent and potential escalation of hate speech.