Report finds 450% spike in Islamophobic posts online against Zohran Mamdani

• Anti-Mamdani content on X surged 450 percent from September to October.
• Islamophobic posts reached 1.5 billion users and originated from over 17,700 accounts.
• Major narratives included terrorism labeling, deportation calls, loyalty accusations, and Muslim takeover conspiracies.
• CSOH urges X to enforce rules, enhance moderation, and boost corrective information to combat hate.

A new report from the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) shows a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Mamdani content on X as the gap between New York City mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo narrowed over the past month. The study found that such content increased by more than 450 percent from September to October.

According to the 20-page report released Monday, Islamophobic and xenophobic posts targeting Mamdani reached approximately 1.5 billion users between his Democratic primary victory in June and the end of October. The posts originated from 35,522 original messages authored by 17,752 unique accounts on the platform.

The CSOH report highlighted four primary Islamophobic narratives:

• Terrorist labeling (72 percent of posts), framing Mamdani as a security threat, and questioning Muslim participation in democracy.
• Calls for deportation and revocation of citizenship (11 percent of posts), with at least one member of Congress amplifying this narrative.
• Accusations questioning Mamdani’s loyalty to the US (9 percent), including terms like “anti-American” and “enemy within.”
• Sharia law and Muslim takeover conspiracies (8 percent), reaching over 155 million users despite being authored by just over 2,100 accounts.

The report emphasized that fear-based claims, such as the idea that New York could fall under “Islamic rule,” have functioned as political weapons to stir anti-Muslim sentiment, echoing far-right tactics seen in Europe and the UK.

CSOH warned that online hate and dehumanization could translate into real-world violence, citing recent political attacks in the US, including shootings targeting Democratic and right-wing figures.

To address these issues, the organization made several recommendations for X, including:

• Strict enforcement of the platform’s Hateful Conduct policy.
• Stronger moderation and transparency for verified users, with potential removal of premium privileges for hate-based content.
• Introducing graduated friction measures, such as “read before you share” pop-ups for repeated violations.
• Implementing interstitial context cards for posts with high-risk keywords, offering facts, links to authoritative sources, and user options.
• Adjusting the algorithm to boost corrective counterarguments and expand the “Community Notes” feature to provide balanced information when false or hateful claims gain traction.

CSOH stressed that these measures are essential to prevent further spread of hate online and reduce the risk of offline violence.