Over a million posts on Zohran Mamdani are Islamophobic, mislabel him communist
A staggering 1.15 million social media posts on New York mayoral Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani are Islamophobic, a recent report says. These posts had a user reach of over 150 billion. Another 1.43 million posts mislabel him a communist, with a user reach of 330.2 billion reach. More than 17.1 million posts have been circulated about Mamdani across various social media platforms in 2025, the report further says.The report – titled ‘Tracing Online Hate Against Zohran Mamdani’ – was released by US-based anti-caste civil rights coalition Equality Labs, founded by Dalit activist and writer Thenmozhi Soundararajan.The 89-page study aims to “expose the massive scale of hate, disinformation, and coordinated narrative attacks” targeting Mamdani. Equality Labs manually monitored and analysed 500 posts on over 12 platforms for hate speech and disinformation. These were posted between June 2025, after Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral primaries, and the end of October. The organisation also conducted a yearlong, large-scale analysis of over 17.1 million online posts related to Mamdani.The study tracks Islamophobia, xenophobia, red-baiting/anti-working class rhetoric, and anti-South Asian hate speech directed at Mamdani in US social media posts. Posts were tracked on Instagram, X, Reddit, YouTube, Bluesky, News, Broadcast, Meta, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitch, Snapchat, and other blogs and forums.“This report shows how digital hate has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem—blending xenophobia, Islamophobia, and red-baiting to undermine candidates of colour and working-class movements. Understanding these attacks is essential for safeguarding democracy and ensuring that communities can participate in politics without fear,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan said in a statement.The report also assessed how global and US political figures fed the narrative on Mamdani.High degree of IslamophobiaOf the 500 manually tracked posts on Mamdani, 80.8% were Islamophobic, the report found. Of the approximately 17.1 million total posts, 1.15 million were Islamophobic. Mamdani is the son of Gujarat-born Muslim academic Mahmood Mamdani and Padma Bhushan award-winning filmmaker Mira Nair. The central theme of the ‘Muslim invasion’ trope is rooted in post‑9/11 right-wing ideologies, the report says. “[It] frames Muslim New Yorkers as perpetual outsiders and casts candidates like Mamdani as symbols of demographic or cultural takeover rather than democratic representation … The effect is to launder bigotry as public concern, substituting insinuation and fear for facts and policy debate, and to normalise Islamophobic tropes in mainstream discourse.” Further, 7.2% of the manually tracked posts characterised Mamdani as a ‘terrorist’, 5.4% called for him to be deported or denaturalised as a US citizen, and 2.4% showed anti-immigrant sentiments.9% of the posts called Mamdani ‘anti-Hindu’, the report further says. He has repeatedly criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In June, Mamdani accused Modi of a “mass slaughter of Muslims” during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Mamdani also went on to describe Modi as a “war criminal”, likening him to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The mayoral candidate has criticised the Ayodhya Ram Temple movement, joining protests at New York’s Times Square in 2020. His comments led to widespread Islamophobic rhetoric. He was accused of ‘Hinduphobia’ and portrayed as ‘anti-Indian’ and ‘anti-Hindu’, with claims that he would turn New York City into a “launchpad for radicalism”, the report notes.According to Al Jazeera, the New Jersey-based organisation Indian Americans for Cuomo spent USD 3,570 on an aeroplane banner saying, “Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”25.3% of the manually tracked posts labelled Mamdani as ‘pro-Hamas’ or anti-Semitic. Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israel. In September, he said that as mayor, he would honour the International Criminal Court’s 2024 arrest warrant against Netanyahu if he ever travels to New York.Anti-working class rhetoricThe report found that 23.8% of manually tracked posts referred to Mamdani as a communist or ‘socialist extremist’. Equality Labs uncovered a total of 1.62 million red-baiting posts with more than 330.2 billion user impressions.“Calling someone a communist in this context is not a good-faith critique of a stated platform. It is a catch-all slur meant to cast pro–working class policies as inherently illegitimate and to collapse nuanced positions into a caricature of extremism,” the report says.Mamdani identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He has campaigned on a platform promising rent freezes in New York, free bus rides, free child care, increased funding for public schools, establishing city-owned and price-controlled grocery stores, protecting LGBTQIA+ rights, increasing corporate taxes, and defending immigrant rights. In July, US President Donald Trump said in a press meet, “We will have to arrest him. We don’t need a communist in
A STAGGERING 1.15 million social media posts on New York mayoral Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani are Islamophobic, a recent report says.
These posts had a user reach of over 150 billion. Another 1.43 million posts mislabel him a communist, with a user reach of 330.2 billion reach. More than 17.1 million posts have been circulated about Mamdani across various social media platforms in 2025, the report further says.
The report – titled ‘Tracing Online Hate Against Zohran Mamdani’ – was released by US-based anti-caste civil rights coalition Equality Labs, founded by Dalit activist and writer Thenmozhi Soundararajan.
The 89-page study aims to “expose the massive scale of hate, disinformation, and coordinated narrative attacks” targeting Mamdani.
Equality Labs manually monitored and analysed 500 posts on over 12 platforms for hate speech and disinformation. These were posted between June 2025, after Mamdani’s victory in the mayoral primaries, and the end of October. The organisation also conducted a yearlong, large-scale analysis of over 17.1 million online posts related to Mamdani.
The study tracks Islamophobia, xenophobia, red-baiting/anti-working class rhetoric, and anti-South Asian hate speech directed at Mamdani in US social media posts. Posts were tracked on Instagram, X, Reddit, YouTube, Bluesky, News, Broadcast, Meta, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitch, Snapchat, and other blogs and forums.
“This report shows how digital hate has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem—blending xenophobia, Islamophobia, and red-baiting to undermine candidates of colour and working-class movements. Understanding these attacks is essential for safeguarding democracy and ensuring that communities can participate in politics without fear,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan said in a statement.
The report also assessed how global and US political figures fed the narrative on Mamdani.
High degree of Islamophobia
Of the 500 manually tracked posts on Mamdani, 80.8% were Islamophobic, the report found. Of the approximately 17.1 million total posts, 1.15 million were Islamophobic. Mamdani is the son of Gujarat-born Muslim academic Mahmood Mamdani and Padma Bhushan award-winning filmmaker Mira Nair.
The central theme of the ‘Muslim invasion’ trope is rooted in post‑9/11 right-wing ideologies, the report says. “[It] frames Muslim New Yorkers as perpetual outsiders and casts candidates like Mamdani as symbols of demographic or cultural takeover rather than democratic representation … The effect is to launder bigotry as public concern, substituting insinuation and fear for facts and policy debate, and to normalise Islamophobic tropes in mainstream discourse.”
Further, 7.2% of the manually tracked posts characterised Mamdani as a ‘terrorist’, 5.4% called for him to be deported or denaturalised as a US citizen, and 2.4% showed anti-immigrant sentiments.
9% of the posts called Mamdani ‘anti-Hindu’, the report further says. He has repeatedly criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In June, Mamdani accused Modi of a “mass slaughter of Muslims” during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Mamdani also went on to describe Modi as a “war criminal”, likening him to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The mayoral candidate has criticised the Ayodhya Ram Temple movement, joining protests at New York’s Times Square in 2020. His comments led to widespread Islamophobic rhetoric. He was accused of ‘Hinduphobia’ and portrayed as ‘anti-Indian’ and ‘anti-Hindu’, with claims that he would turn New York City into a “launchpad for radicalism”, the report notes.
According to Al Jazeera, the New Jersey-based organisation Indian Americans for Cuomo spent USD 3,570 on an aeroplane banner saying, “Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”
25.3% of the manually tracked posts labelled Mamdani as ‘pro-Hamas’ or anti-Semitic. Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Israel. In September, he said that as mayor, he would honour the International Criminal Court’s 2024 arrest warrant against Netanyahu if he ever travels to New York.
Anti-working class rhetoric
The report found that 23.8% of manually tracked posts referred to Mamdani as a communist or ‘socialist extremist’. Equality Labs uncovered a total of 1.62 million red-baiting posts with more than 330.2 billion user impressions.
“Calling someone a communist in this context is not a good-faith critique of a stated platform. It is a catch-all slur meant to cast pro–working class policies as inherently illegitimate and to collapse nuanced positions into a caricature of extremism,” the report says.
Mamdani identifies as a Democratic Socialist. He has campaigned on a platform promising rent freezes in New York, free bus rides, free child care, increased funding for public schools, establishing city-owned and price-controlled grocery stores, protecting LGBTQIA+ rights, increasing corporate taxes, and defending immigrant rights.
In July, US President Donald Trump said in a press meet, “We will have to arrest him. We don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I am going to be watching over him very closely on behalf of the nation. A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. We’re going to look at everything.”
Other findings
Equality Labs found that 45 Republican officials from over 18 states amplified hate. This included Trump, sitting senators and governors, members of the House of Representatives, and senior federal officials. Many of these voices were from states like Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.
Mamdani also drew sustained attention from the global right, the report says. At least 26 international politicians, ambassadors, and other government officials outside the United States have spoken against him. These figures came from 14 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Israel, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
“Mamdani became a global lightning rod because Islamophobia, xenophobia, and red‑baiting are now transnational staples of right‑wing politics. These narratives travel easily across borders, fuelling coordinated smear campaigns,” the report says.
Further, the report highlights targeted disinformation campaigns that “reframe routine, constitutionally protected civic engagement as a ‘Soros’ terrorist plot.”
