AI-fuelled Islamophobia surges in India; Sexualised depictions of Muslim women dominate hate content
Report
New Delhi: Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated Islamophobic content has witnessed a sharp spike in India since mid-2024, with the sexualised portrayal of Muslim women emerging as the most prominent and engaging form of hate imagery, according to a recent report by the Washington DC-based Centre for the Study of Organised Hate (CSOH).
The report titled “AI-generated Imagery and the New Frontier of Islamophobia in India,” as cited by The Print on Friday, analysed 1,326 publicly available AI-generated images and videos from 297 public accounts across X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook. These posts, uploaded between May 2023 and May 2025, showed a dramatic rise in synthetic hate content starting June 2024, peaking in September 2024—coinciding with the emergence of the "Rail Jihad" conspiracy theory—and again in March 2025, during the rise of Ghibli Art trends.
The study identified four key themes in AI-generated Islamophobic content: sexualisation of Muslim women, dehumanising rhetoric, conspiratorial narratives, and aestheticised violence.
Among these, posts featuring the sexualised depiction of Muslim women attracted the highest engagement—6.7 million interactions. These AI-created images often showed women in burqas surrounded by groups of men, accompanied by captions alluding to incest and moral deviance.
AI tools were also widely used to promote conspiracy theories such as “Love Jihad,” “Population Jihad,” and “Rail Jihad,” portraying Muslims as threats to India’s integrity. Dehumanising content, which constituted nearly a quarter (23.4%) of the analysed posts, frequently used animal imagery to depict Muslims and called for violence or exclusion.
The report also found that posts in the category of aestheticised violence used AI to normalise and legitimise anti-Muslim violence.
Despite violating community guidelines, around 187 reported posts remained online across X, Instagram, and Facebook, underscoring the persistent failure of the platforms to enforce their policies.
These posts received a total engagement of 2,73,00,000 across X, Instagram, and Facebook, as measured by the sum of likes, comments, reposts, and shares.
In terms of reach, X recorded the highest activity, with over 24.1 million views, 5,64,400 likes, 29,200 comments, and 1,79,800 shares. Instagram followed with 15,30,000 likes and 3,13,100 shares, while Facebook saw relatively lower engagement.
The CSOH report also identified several “Hindu nationalist media platforms” as key contributors in promoting and amplifying AI-generated Islamophobic content. “Hindu nationalist media outlets, notably OpIndia, Sudarshan News, and Panchjanya, played a central role in producing and amplifying synthetic hate, embedding Al-generated Islamophobia into mainstream discourse,” the report stated.
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Madhu Kishwar booked over misleading content on social media
Chandigarh (PTI): Madhu Kishwar has been booked following a complaint by a Chandigarh resident over the alleged circulation of forged and misleading content on social media.
An FIR has been lodged against Kishwar and some other social media users under relevant sections, including 196 (criminalises acts that promote enmity, hatred, or ill-will between groups based on religion, race, language), 336 (1) (forgery) and 356 (criminal defamation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act at Police Station Sector-26 here.
According to an official statement issued by the Chandigarh police on Monday, a city-based complainant on April 19 alleged that some forged and misleading social media posts and video clips with obscene text and content were being circulated by various social media users, misidentifying the person in the video.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
As per the complainant, it is a deliberate act of creating a false electronic record using obscene words and phrases, having knowledge and sufficient reason to believe that the posts are misleading and false, with the intent to cause damage or injury.
The video, which circulated with the intent to cause harm to the reputation of a constitutional authority and to disturb public peace and tranquility, should be investigated, and appropriate action should be taken, according to the complainant.
As per the complainant, the person seen in the video is a travel vlogger whose wife regularly posts updates about their activities on social media. The original video was shared from her social media account.
"As per the statement of the woman, she disclosed that the person in the video shared from her account is her husband. Statements of her husband and another lady in the video have also been recorded during preliminary investigation," said police in the statement.
Meanwhile, Kishwar, in a social media post, said a team of Chandigarh police had visited her late Monday night to serve her notice regarding the FIR registered against her.
"Since the law forbids the police to visit or arrest women after dark and before sunrise, I spoke on phone to the leader of the delegation. She told me that their team has come to serve notice regarding an FIR registered against me in Chandigarh. I insisted that they go by the law and come in the morning," she wrote on X.
