WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report on anti-South Asian hate in the United States has raised fresh concerns about the safety and social climate facing Indian, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and other South Asian communities, documenting a sharp increase in online racial abuse and widespread experiences of hate in everyday life.The September 2026 report, “The State of Anti-South Asian Hate,” released by Stop AAPI Hate, found that anti-South Asian slurs in online spaces associated with targeted violence increased 109% between January 2023 and December 2025.The report also found that 48% of South Asian adults surveyed said they experienced a hate act in 2025 because of their race, ethnicity or nationality. Harassment was identified as the most common form of hate experienced by respondents.The findings point to a disturbing combination of online hostility and real-world discrimination. Stop AAPI Hate said the increase has occurred amid heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric, changing immigration policies and what it described as a backlash against the growing visibility of South Asian Americans.
Online abuse reaches alarming levels
According to the report, anti-South Asian slurs in online spaces linked to targeted violence increased from 22,996 in January 2023 to 48,033 in December 2025.Those slurs represented 66% of all anti-Asian slurs recorded in the monitored spaces. The terms “jeet” and “pajeet” alone accounted for 55% of all anti-Asian slurs identified in those spaces.The report further found that South Asians represented 71% of all anti-Asian threats of violence recorded between August 2024 and December 2025, making them the most frequently threatened Asian regional group in the monitored online environments.The findings are particularly significant for a community whose presence in American public life, technology sector, healthcare, education, business and politics has expanded considerably over the past several decades.
Hate is not confined to the internet
The problem documented by the report extends beyond social media and online forums.Stop AAPI Hate’s national survey found that the percentage of South Asian adults reporting a hate act rose from 43% in 2023 to 54% in 2024, before remaining high at 48% in 2025.Online spaces were identified as the most common location where respondents experienced hate, at 49%. Public streets, parks, parking lots and public transportation followed at 40%, while businesses accounted for 34%.The reporting center also received accounts from Indian Americans across several states describing racial insults, threats and anti-immigrant abuse.One Indian woman in Texas reported being subjected to racial and anti-immigrant abuse by a customer at her workplace. In Georgia, an Indian woman reported that a woman at a fast-food restaurant called her and others “murderers” and “rapists,” threatened to involve Immigration and Customs Enforcement and threw food at their feet. She said those targeted were U.S. citizens.In Virginia, an Indian man reported that a stranger approached him at a Thai restaurant, used racial slurs, told him he needed to “go home” and threatened to wait outside for him and his friend.
Immigration politics increasingly entering everyday encounters
The report also found that 55% of South Asian adults said they or another AAPI person in their community had been affected by changing immigration policies or anti-immigrant sentiment.For many South Asian Americans, the report suggests, immigration debates are no longer simply political arguments taking place in Washington or on television. They can become part of workplace interactions, public encounters and online harassment.Stop AAPI Hate identified an online xenophobic narrative portraying Indian immigrants as an “invasion” or “great replacement,” including claims that Indians are taking jobs from white Americans.Debates surrounding H-1B visas were also associated with substantial increases in anti-South Asian slurs in the monitored online spaces.
Religion and immigration status also targeted
The report found that racial or ethnic identity was often not the only characteristic targeted.Approximately 61% of South Asian adults said they had been targeted for another aspect of their identity in addition to race, ethnicity or nationality. Religion, immigration status and class were among the most frequently targeted additional identities.That finding has particular relevance to the diverse South Asian population in the United States, which includes people belonging to multiple faiths and communities and people with widely different immigration and citizenship statuses.
Human cost of hate
Beyond the immediate incident, the report documented significant psychological, physical, financial and social consequences.Half of the South Asian adults surveyed reported negative effects on their health following hate experiences.The report highlighted the experience of Arun, a South Asian rideshare driver in New York, who said another driver followed and physically attacked him after a dispute involving a car horn. He reported that racist comments about his background were also made during the encounter.Arun said the incident left him traumatized and experiencing neck and back pain, dizziness and memory problems, leading him to seek orthopedic and neurological care.
A warning for the South Asian community
The report’s findings underscore a broader concern for South Asian Americans: online racial language can potentially reinforce stereotypes and contribute to hostility in public spaces.For Indian and Punjabi communities in particular, the findings raise questions about how immigration debates, racial stereotypes and religious identity intersect in an increasingly polarized public environment.Stop AAPI Hate said its conclusions were based on online monitoring conducted by Moonshot from 2023 through 2025, a January 2026 national survey of 306 South Asian adults conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, and firsthand accounts submitted to its reporting center during 2025.The numbers do not represent every hate incident experienced by South Asian Americans. But they provide a significant indication of the scale of reported hostility and the growing importance of addressing discrimination both online and in American communities.
Punjab Outlook Note: This story is based on findings and accounts reported by Stop AAPI Hate in its September 2026 report, The State of Anti-South Asian Hate. Individual incidents described above are allegations/accounts submitted to the organization’s reporting center and should not be interpreted as independently verified findings by Punjab Outlook.