"Anti-Indian hate exploding on social media, big Tech profiting": US Congressman Krishnamoorthi

Washington DC [US]: US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Wednesday (local time) raised concerns over the rise in anti-Indian, anti-South Asian and anti-Hindu hate on social media, accusing major technology companies of profiting from online hostility and calling on Congress to hold them accountable.

In a post on X, Krishnamoorthi said, "Anti-Indian hate is exploding on social media, and Big Tech is profiting from it. These companies have no incentive to stop the hatred they help spread. Congress must hold them accountable."

He alleged that social media platforms were failing to adequately police hateful content and cited an increase of more than 240 per cent in posts promoting anti-South Asian hate.

In the video attached, he said, "Big Tech is not policing their social media platforms where there's been an explosion of anti-South Asian, anti-Indian, anti-Hindu hate. I'll just give you one statistic: the number of X posts, posts on X or tweets, basically touting anti-South Asian hate has increased by more than 240 per cent over a very short period of time."

"And, unfortunately, Big Tech is profiting off of this hate. They have no incentive right now to decrease it. And so we have to at this point, at the federal level, make sure that they face the full consequences of not taking action," he added.

His remarks come amid concerns over online hostility towards South Asian communities and follow an attempted shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois, on October 11.

Krishnamoorthi, who was worshipping at the temple with his family when the attempted attack occurred, led 105 members of Congress, including every Indian American member of Congress, in urging FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate the incident as a potential federal hate crime.

According to prosecutors, 19-year-old Alexandros Paporakis, a self-identified neo-Nazi, allegedly attempted to shoot a man outside the temple, but his rifle jammed. He fled and later communicated plans to return before a coworker alerted police, who arrested him that day.

Prosecutors allege that Paporakis authored an eight-page white supremacist manifesto describing violence against people of Indian descent at a Hindu house of worship.

In their letter to Patel, the lawmakers wrote, "The alleged combination of targeted racial hatred, a religious setting, and preparations for mass violence demands a comprehensive federal response. We appreciate the FBI’s reported assistance to local investigators and urge the Bureau to ensure that potential hate-crime violations receive explicit attention."

The lawmakers also sought information on whether the FBI was examining potential racial, ethnic and religious bias in the Aurora case, whether online platforms or other individuals facilitated the alleged plot, and what steps the Bureau was taking to address credible threats against Indian Americans, Hindu Americans and other South Asian communities.

The letter further stated, "We believe such messaging risks lending governmental legitimacy to racial and religious stereotyping. Federal agencies should make clear that debates over immigration or public safety never justify collective suspicion of Indian, Sikh, Hindu, or other South Asian communities."

The lawmakers requested a written response to their questions, to the extent consistent with the ongoing investigation, by October 29.
Earlier, on October 20, Krishnamoorthi told ANI that the United States was becoming increasingly polarised, alleging that rhetoric from senior government officials was contributing to hostility against minority communities.

“Well, yes, I do think that the America of today is more polarised than ever before,” he said, adding that leaders at the highest levels of government were targeting groups, including Muslims, Indians and gay people, and “villainising people”.

Citing a controversial post by the Department of Homeland Security targeting a Sikh man, Krishnamoorthi said, "I mean, the best example of that was the Department of Homeland Security tweet on their official account targeting a quote, unquote, 'Mr. Singh,' and saying, you know, 'self-deport or else. And predictably, one week later, a gentleman named Mr. Singh, a Sikh truck driver, was stabbed 17 times, came within inches of his life."

The DHS post, which was later deleted, featured a Transformers-themed cartoon depicting an Indian Sikh man alongside the phrase "Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh” and the words “Self deport or find out".

Calling for action against hate crimes, Krishnamoorthi said, "And this is what has to stop. If we're going to stop this horrible rash of hate, it has to stop at the top."

"And once that happens, I think things become better, although we at all levels of government have to stand together against it," he added.