A platform to demonize people? Study reveals how YouTube videos are targeting India’s Muslims, women

Agencies
June 14, 2022

Influencers backing BJP have used YouTube videos to spread conspiracy theories and hateful content targeting Muslims and women in the biggest market for the platform by user base, according to a report by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

The NYU Stern Center report highlighted the case of India to press Alphabet Inc.’s Google-owned video platform to look at its recommendations to boost content moderation and disclose information on how algorithms recommend and remove content. 

India has more than 450 million YouTube users, nearly double the size of the platform’s US base. The videos have helped fuel a conspiracy theory that Muslims spread Covid as a form of “jihad’, or holy war, according to the report titled “A Platform ‘Weaponized’: How YouTube Spreads Harmful Content – And What Can Be Done About It.”

The report also cited examples of rivalries between street rival vendors turning violent after a YouTube video campaign that singled out Muslims as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric often blending with online attacks on women. 

“A spate of misogynistic rants by nationalistic Indian YouTube influencers have made such invective popular on the platform,” the report said. “The diatribes, many of which include physical threats, are often delivered as selfie videos.”

A YouTube spokesperson said the recommendations detailed by the report were priorities for the platform though greater algorithmic transparency makes it harder to protect its systems. 

“We work to provide ongoing insights into how recommendations work, through blog posts, videos, interviews and more,” the spokesperson said. 

Requests for comments from the BJP and the Ministry of Home Affairs also remained unanswered.

Intensified hostility

With over 1.3 billion people and growing Internet use, India is an important and profitable jurisdiction for social media companies. However popular support for the Hindu nationalist agenda of Modi’s BJP puts big tech companies in a spot when it comes to balancing free speech with curbs on hateful content.  

While the report noted that religious divides existed in India long before YouTube came to the picture, “widespread social media use has intensified the hostility.” 

The report comes amid an ongoing controversy in India where two ex-BJP officials made derogatory remarks against Islam and Prophet Mohammed on a news channel and on social media, dragging New Delhi into a diplomatic spat with several Middle Eastern trading partners. It has also led to sporadic religious clashes in several parts of India.

The police have arrested a YouTuber from Kashmir for allegedly uploading a video that showed beheading an effigy of one of the suspended officials, local media reported, reflecting the challenges of curbing hate messages on the platform. 

Speaking at World Economic Forum in Davos last month, YouTube’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki said the platform faced a test in keeping ahead of people creating misinformation and making sure it understood what they are. She said YouTube missed only about 10 to 12 content-violating videos per 100,000 views of videos on the platform, citing the company’s latest research. 

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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News Network
November 22,2025

Mangaluru: Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H has warned of strict action against individuals spreading rumours and attempting to create insecurity within the Muslim community and fuel hatred between Hindus and Muslims through social media.

Referring to a recent social media post alleging that police personnel had entered a masjid premises to check whether beef was being cooked, the commissioner said miscreants were attempting to push their communal agenda. 

“A group of people, both from Mangaluru and abroad, are trying hard to spread rumours. For the past 10 days, they have been attempting to rake up old issues, highlight routine matters as controversies, or fabricate news altogether,” he said.

He reiterated that any such attempts to disturb communal harmony would invite legal action. “Cases will be registered and the accused will be brought to book,” he stated.

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News Network
November 21,2025

Bantwal: A domestic dispute appears to have led to a violent confrontation in BC Road area, where the owner of a textile shop was allegedly attacked with a knife by his wife on Wednesday evening.

Krishna Kumar Somayaji, the owner of Somayaji Textiles, sustained serious injuries in the incident and was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment. He is currently receiving care in the intensive care unit and is reported to have survived the assault, according to police.

The Bantwal Town police have registered a case against Somayaji's wife, Jyothi KT, who has since been taken into custody.

Police stated that the complainant, Namita, an employee at the shop, reported the sequence of events. She stated that around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, the suspect entered the shop, wearing a burqa and disguised as a customer, before attacking Somayaji with a knife. The employee then transported the injured owner to a local hospital via an autorickshaw.

Superintendent of Police Arun K confirmed that an ongoing domestic dispute between Somayaji and his wife reportedly preceded the attack. Police noted that Jyothi KT had previously visited the shop and issued threats.

Based on the complaint, Bantwal Town police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Arms Act-1959. An investigation into the incident is currently underway.

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