Key Takeaways
- The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) tracked and analyzed 1,023 Instagram accounts of individuals and groups involved in cow vigilantism in India.
- 30% of the vigilante accounts analyzed had posts showing vigilantes engaging in physical violence against people who were transporting cattle and sharing videos of assault on Instagram. In several of these instances, the people being targeted are Muslims, as evidenced by their responses to being asked their names on camera in the videos posted by the vigilantes.
- There were 834 accounts where the Instagram account’s location or the Indian state it was actively posting from or about, was clearly distinguishable. States in which the BJP is currently in power, either on its own or in a coalition, accounted for 793 of the 834 accounts – 95%.
- Of the 10 vigilante accounts with the highest number of followers, each account had posts showing vigilantes engaged in dangerous high-speed chases of trucks and mini-trucks transporting cattle.
- The vigilantes pursue the trucks at dangerously high speeds, often resorting to extreme measures, such as deploying spike strips or even firing at the vehicles. These actions have frequently resulted in fatal accidents. In cases where the trucks are stopped without crashing, they are typically vandalized by the vigilantes.
- CSOH analyzed 121 Instagram reels showing vigilantes engaging in physical violence against people who were transporting cattle. The 121 reels had 8.3 million plays in all. As many as 9 of the 121 posts (7.4%) had more than 100,000 plays each.
- 100 of the 121 (82.6%) reels showing physical violence by vigilantes had no graphic content filter placed on them by Instagram.
- Reels showing vigilante violence — such as physical violence and dangerous high-speed truck chases — attracted approximately three times more views on the platform than other reels posted by the same accounts that did not feature violence.
- Multiple cow vigilante accounts had posted calls for donations on their Instagram profiles, in the content and captions of posts as well as stories.
- Half of the accounts that had calls for donations on their Instagram accounts had also posted content showing vigilantes engaging in physical violence against people who were transporting cattle.
- Multiple Instagram accounts with posts glorifying violence and showing vigilantes engaging in physical violence against people who were transporting cattle continue to have the “Send Gift” feature available, providing their viewers with an opportunity to send them money directly via the social media platform.
- Of the 150 most-followed accounts which had posts showing vigilantes engaging in physical violence against people who were transporting cattle, CSOH found that 53 accounts (35.3%), had the “Send Gift” option activated on their reels.
- A total of 167 Instagram posts depicting explicit violence by cow vigilantes were reported by selecting the “showing violence, death, or severe injury” option under the “violence, hate, and exploitation” category. Despite clear guideline violations, Instagram failed to remove any, resulting in a 100% inaction rate.
- Nine of the 50 most-followed accounts, and 71 of the 1023 accounts overall (6.9%), had Bajrang Dal in their usernames, indicating their possible affiliation with the Hindu nationalist organization by the same name. The Bajrang Dal is part of the Sangh Parivar, an umbrella term for Hindu nationalist groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which also includes India’s ruling political party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In 2023, when the opposition Indian National Congress proposed a ban on the Bajrang Dal, along with other extremist militant groups in the state of Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself defended and championed the organization.