Just ahead of the Haryana State elections, we are launching a new report which reveals disturbing trends of how India’s far-right cow vigilantes like Bittu Bajrangi use social media platforms to fuel a Hindutva frenzy and mobilise for electoral gains. At the same time, we are also calling on social media platforms to enforce their Dangerous Organisations and Individuals (DOI) policies and stop neglecting their largest user market (India).
The report shows that cow vigilantes use their social media presence to mobilise for violence and rationalise attacks on Indian Muslim communities. It further argues that the virality gained on social media translates into political status gains and allows these vigilante influences to become political leaders or gather support for their chosen candidate. This research uncovers how tactics of riot mobilisation on social media mirror those of on-ground violence which has traditionally been used by right-wing political parties for electoral gain.
Since 2014, 53 people have been killed and 93 injured in cow vigilante attacks in India. Several of the cow vigilantes have been emboldened because of their social media influence. Despite their posts violating social media platforms’ own DOI and hate speech policies, platforms consistently fail to moderate the content allowing online hate speech and riot mobilisation to run rampant with dire consequences for the offline world.