WASHINGTON (Middle East Eye) – Anti-Asian hate has spiked since the 2024 presidential election, according to data released by a nonprofit organization that tracks online slurs and threats of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
Stop AAPI, the largest organization in the U.S. to track such data, says the climate of anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies has resulted in “an alarming surge” of online hate, which was directed mainly towards South Asian communities.
The research said that anti-South Asian hate spiked significantly in December 2024, when billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy called for an increase in the number of H-1B visas issued against the backdrop of Trump’s election campaign, which singled out migrants and minority groups.
Indian nationals are the largest recipients of the H1-B visa program.
Indian immigrants were accused of “stealing jobs”, particularly in white-collar occupations, and, therefore, threatening “white livelihood”.
While the H-1B visa debate centered around Indian tech workers, there was also hate towards Indian Uber drivers, fast food workers, and call centre workers. After the murder of the United HealthCare CEO, there were also calls to attack Indian and Indian American CEOs.
While anti-East Asian hate also flared following the debate on the H-1B program, data shows it was additionally fuelled by the rhetoric surrounding the video platform TikTok and AI company DeepSeek, which are owned by Chinese companies, and videos allegedly depicting new Chinese military aircraft.
Historically, there is a correlation between negative news coverage of immigrants and/or their countries of origin and animosity towards such groups.
“We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person,” Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance, said in the report.
“Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years. And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate.”