In northern India, a 20-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob after being accused of transporting cows, which are sacred to Hindus, for slaughter.
He was a victim of cow vigilantes who have documented their attacks in the name of “cow protection” in at least another 166 videos on Instagram.
It’s this type of case experts point to as fears rise about the scaling back of fact-checking of social media content.
“Unchecked hate speech doesn’t just stay online — it spills into the real world with deadly consequences,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, head of the Centre for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH).