Anti-Asian online hate in the US has seen an "alarming surge" since the 2024 US elections won by Donald Trump, data released by Stop AAPI Hate showed, citing what the nonprofit group called the US president's anti-immigration agenda and an intense debate surrounding H-1B visas.
"Since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, there has been an alarming surge in anti-Asian hate online - including slurs and threats of violence," the nonprofit group, which documents discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US, said on Thursday.
Rights advocates have been critical of Trump's immigration crackdown which they say fuels anti-immigrant rhetoric.
They have also criticised Trump's attempts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs, saying DEI policies help ensure equal opportunities for marginalised groups facing historical inequities.
Trump says his policies target immigrants who came into the US illegally. He calls DEI discriminatory and "anti-merit."
Indians account for the bulk of H-1B US visas, which Trump has backed despite vocal opposition by some of his supporters.
By number
January 2025 marked the highest number of online anti-Asian slurs by month since monitoring began in August 2022, Stop AAPI Hate said, with a total of 87,945 slurs. Since the election, observed slurs have increased by 66 percent, the data showed.
The surge was mostly driven by anti-South Asian slurs, which increased by 75 percent in January, versus November.
Similarly, threats of violence against Asians online rose by over 50 percent in both December and January, compared to November, the data showed.
Some online rhetoric centred around Indians "stealing jobs" and threatening "white livelihood," the nonprofit group said.
Online hate against Americans of Asian, especially South Asian, ancestry had risen steadily in 2023 and 2024 with the rise to prominence of politicians from that community, Stop AAPI Hate said in the build-up to the November elections.
