New Delhi: A new report has revealed how Artificial Intelligence tools are being weaponized to spread Islamophobic hate across India’s digital platforms. Researchers documented 1,326 AI-generated images and videos targeting Muslims between May 2023 and May 2025, created and shared by 297 extremist accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook. Activity surged after mid-2024, coinciding with the wider availability of AI platforms like DALL·E and Stable Diffusion.
The content clustered around four recurring themes: sexualized portrayals of Muslim women, exclusionary and dehumanizing rhetoric, conspiracy theories such as “Love Jihad” and “Population Jihad,” and stylized depictions of violence. Sexualized content attracted the highest engagement, with over 6.7 million interactions, underscoring how misogyny and Islamophobia are increasingly intertwined.
The study found Instagram to be the most powerful amplifier of AI-generated hate, with 1.8 million interactions across 462 posts, surpassing engagement on X and Facebook. Posts often used cartoons, anime-style visuals, and memes to make violent imagery more palatable to younger audiences. Verified Hindu nationalist media outlets, including OpIndia and Sudarshan News, were found to play a central role in normalizing and spreading this synthetic propaganda.
Despite 187 posts being reported for policy violations, none were removed, highlighting a failure of platforms to enforce community standards. Researchers warn that as AI becomes cheaper and easier to use, the scale and speed of hate production against India’s nearly 200 million Muslims will intensify, posing risks of physical violence, deepening polarization, and weakening democratic institutions.
