London Mayor Sadiq Khan's ambitious green campaign to reduce pollution in the UK capital's city streets has fuelled a wave of online racism and anti-Muslim hatred, according to a study that Reuters says is from City Hall and the Guardian has sourced to the Greater London Authority.
Khan who in 2016 became the first Muslim mayor of any major Western capital and is of Pakistani heritage has faced a tirade of abuse, with the majority of the vitriol tying him to tropes like “sharia law or jihad” among other racist remarks.
This year Khan has been subjected to almost 11,000 racist messages, using coarse and degrading language on social media.
Since becoming mayor, he has received at least 304,000 racist and Islamophobic messages across social media, driven in large-part due to his disagreement with the former US President Trump who labelled him "stone cold loser" while Khan previously hit out at Trump's Muslim travel ban.
The research suggests much of the hate emanates from outside the UK and ranges in its levels of abuse.
London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that costs drivers of highly polluting vehicles $16 is set to more than double its costs from the end of August and faces challenges in the UK's High Court court from 5 local authorities.
The study also found the incidence of abuse towards Khan over his ULEZ campaign has soared this year, tripling from January-March and reaching a record last month, describing dissatisfaction concerning the ULEZ initiative as "either radicalising social media users or attracting the far right into online discussions about clean air policies."
Amid the increased attacks in the last month, a spokesperson for Khan said he "has always faced huge levels of racist abuse online" and underscored the Ulez campaign is intended to address air quality and public health have become a "major focus of online hate in the UK and across the world."
Khan's ULEZ campaign is widely regarded by its proponents as an initiative to safeguard citizens' health against air pollution, however amid the cost of living crisis its detractors consider it controversial.
So far, Khan has not publicly commented on the matter. However, in March, he expressed his disdain for those objecting to ULEZ who he suggested was united with elements of the far-right.
The question of Khan's religion has previously been targeted by his Conservative counterpart, Zac Goldsmith - a tactic considered racist by some.
In 2019, Khan also faced abuse from India as protests over Kashmir occurred at India's commission in the UK capital amid the re-election of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
