Washington D.C. (November 19, 2024) — The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) today released a new, in-depth report titled “Streaming Violence: How Instagram Fuels Cow Vigilantism in India.” The report examines the intersection of cow vigilante violence and social media, with a particular focus on Instagram’s role in fueling cow-related violence against religious minorities across the country. Since the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, India has experienced a disturbing surge in mob lynchings targeting Muslims under the guise of “cow protection.”
Streaming Violence uncovers disturbing evidence of vigilante groups leveraging Instagram to promote their violent actions, fundraise, and inspire others to partake in anti-Muslim acts. CSOH has documented over 1,000 Instagram accounts involved in spreading hate and violence, highlighting how the platform’s large, predominantly young and male user base has become an effective recruitment and fundraising tool for these violent groups.
Key Findings
- CSOH analyzed 1,023 cow vigilante accounts and found that 30% of them shared videos depicting cow vigilantes engaging in physical violence against individuals transporting cattle.
- 834 of the cow vigilante Instagram accounts had their location or the Indian state it was actively posting from or about clearly distinguishable. States in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is currently in power, either on its own or in a coalition, accounted for 793 of the 834 accounts — 95%. Haryana ranked number 1 with 320 accounts.
- Of the ten 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The report highlights an urgent issue in the intersection of social media and violent extremism. We call on Meta to designate cow vigilante groups as Tier-1 dangerous organizations.
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