February 20, 2025
Anti-South Asian slurs and threats of violence in extremist online spaces had the most dramatic uptick, spiking from November 2024 – January 2025 after Donald Trump won the election.
Stop AAPI Hate responds to rising hate with new advocacy campaign: Many Roots, One Home.
NATIONWIDE — Today, Stop AAPI Hate released new research that shows an alarming surge in anti-Asian hate online following Donald Trump’s presidential victory. The data looks at online slurs and threats of violence against Asian communities in monitored Domestic Violent Extremist (DVE) spaces in the U.S. between January 2023 and January 2025. It reveals significant rises in anti-Asian hate online between election day (November 2024) and the inauguration (January 2025), with the largest target being South Asian people.
The surge in anti-Asian hate takes place amid intensifying anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric from Trump and his allies, on the campaign trail and from the White House. This has created a hostile environment where any spotlight on immigrants and/or their countries of origin can set off a wave of racism.
For example, Anti-South Asian hate spiked significantly in December 2024 when Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy sparked a public debate about the H-1B visa program against the backdrop of Trump’s relentless xenophobic rhetoric. Anti-East Asian hate also flared with the H-1B visa debate and was additionally fueled by alleged events involving the Chinese military (December 2024) and news about Chinese-owned companies including TikTok and DeepSeek AI (January 2025). The data highlights the animosity towards U.S. ethnic communities that can arise when immigrants and/or their countries of origin are unfairly portrayed as economic, public health, or national security threats by public figures.
Existing research suggests that the occurrence of hate acts online – including in extremist spaces – corresponds with the occurrence of hate incidents and hate crimes offline. It typically takes months or even years for data on in-person hate acts to be released, so online spaces serve as an important early warning system for what’s happening in real time to people offline as well.
“We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person — which Trump is fueling with xenophobic rhetoric and policies,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years. And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate. Their goal is to build a climate of fear in our communities, but we will not be silenced.”
Key findings from the examination of DVE spaces in the U.S. from Nov 2024 – Jan 2025 include but are not limited to:
- Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory caused a dramatic rise in anti-Asian hate in extremist online spaces. January 2025 had the highest number of anti-Asian slurs since monitoring began in August 2022. Since the election, anti-Asian slurs have dramatically increased by 66% and, amongst Asian American subgroups, South Asians communities have been most targeted, with 75% of slurs directed at them in December 2024 and January 2025.
- Anti-East Asian slurs also saw a dramatic rise in January 2025 jumping by 54% compared to December 2024 and 51% compared to November 2024 post-election.
- Online threats of violence towards Asian communities reached their highest levels in December 2024 and remained high in January 2025, which may be attributed to the H-1B debate amongst Trump’s supporters, where some factions are pushing for even more extreme anti-immigrant policies.
- Anti-Asian threats increased 59% from Nov. to Dec. 2024. Of the December threats, 76% were directed at South Asians equivalent to 884 threats of violence online.
Immediately following the election, stories Stop AAPI Hate received through its reporting center reveal that Trump’s election and anti-immigrant policy plans have also emboldened bad actors to more aggressively target and attack Asian people offline:
- “While out to eat with a friend at a Thai restaurant, a random stranger approached us and then proceeded to accost me … He proceeded to work himself into an angry froth, calling me “f-gg-t” (because I wear earrings) and “lesbian,” and told me that Trump was President and I would have to “go home” and “do bharatnatyam in my living room.” He also threatened to kick my -ss and said he would wait for us outside the restaurant.” (Man, Indian, Virginia)
- “Man approached me, and asked me if I was aware that Trump had won the election. Then he followed me around and repeatedly told me that Trump was going to have me arrested and thrown into jail.” (Man, Chinese, South)
- [More stories can be found in the full report]
The latest surge in anti-Asian hate raises serious concerns about the safety and wellbeing of AAPI communities during the remainder of Trump’s presidency. In just the last few weeks, Trump has attacked birthright citizenship, left Asian asylum seekers stranded in Panama, and shackled 100 Indian immigrants in a military airplane and sent them to India. Meanwhile, close allies Elon Musk and Vice President Vance supported the return of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee after he called to “normalize anti-Indian hate” and voiced support for “eugenic immigration policy.”
“As the only racial group that is majority foreign-born – and accounting for 1 out of every 7 undocumented immigrants – AAPI communities are experiencing devastating harms as a result of Trump’s xenophobic agenda,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “Trump and his loyalists have shown us that they don’t care about the consequences of their bigotry and will continue to exploit political power to fuel more hate, manufacture fear, spew disinformation, divide Americans, and erode our democracy. But Stop AAPI Hate is ready to fight back by activating AAPI communities to stand strong and united against Trump’s anti-immigrant, racist crusade.”
This latest research coincides with the launch of Stop AAPI Hate’s advocacy campaign, Many Roots, One Home, launched on February 19, 2025. The campaign aims to equip Asian Americans and allies, including migrant communities, to fight against Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda that threatens to disrupt the safety, political power, and rights of AAPI communities for generations to come.
Read the full data analysis here for more information, including: deeper insights into the data on anti-Asian online hate in DVE spaces and additional first-hand accounts of relevant hate acts submitted to Stop AAPI Hate’s reporting center.
