[Oakland, CA] — [11/3/25] — A new report from Equality Labs, Tracing Online Hate Against Zohran Mamdani, exposes the massive scale of hate, disinformation, and coordinated narrative attacks targeting mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani during the 2025 New York City Mayoral Race. From Mamdani’s primary victory in June 2025 through October 2025, Equality Labs manually monitored and analyzed 500 social media posts explicitly targeting Mamdani, while also conducting a yearlong, large-scale analysis of over 17.1 million online posts related to him. The study tracks the rise of Islamophobia, xenophobia, red-baiting/anti-working-class narratives, and anti–South Asian disinformation, providing a comprehensive picture to date of how hate campaigns are shaping political discourse in the U.S.
“This report shows how digital hate has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem—blending xenophobia, Islamophobia, and red-baiting to undermine candidates of color and working-class movements,” said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Executive Director at Equality Labs. “Understanding these attacks is essential for safeguarding democracy and ensuring that communities can participate in politics without fear.”
Key Findings from the Manually Coded Dataset (500 Posts)
- 80% of all posts across platforms contained Islamophobic content.
- 7% explicitly labeled Mamdani a terrorist.
- 7% warned voters he sought to impose Sharia Law in America.
- 2% falsely framed him as anti-LGBTQIA+ because of his Muslim faith.
- 25% accused Mamdani of being antisemitic or pro-Hamas.
- 23% called him a communist or claimed he aimed to “destroy America” through extremist leftist/socialist ideology.
Key Findings from the 17.1 Million–Post Dataset (2025)
- 1.15 million Islamophobic posts reached an estimated 150 billion users across major social media platforms.
- 1.62 million red-baiting posts reached over 330.2 billion users globally.
Amplification by Political and Global Actors
- 45 Republican officials from 18 U.S. states — including the current president, sitting senators, governors, members of Congress, and senior federal officials — amplified Islamophobic, nativist, racist, and red-baiting narratives targeting Mamdani.
- States represented included Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and federal-level actors.
- 26 international politicians, ambassadors, and government officials from 14 countries — including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Israel, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom — circulated or amplified bigoted disinformation about Mamdani and the NYC mayoral race.
Impact on Democracy and Community Organizations
The report finds that disinformation targeting Mamdani also extended to community organizations supporting his campaign, exposing volunteers and grassroots groups engaged in constitutionally protected voter engagement to harassment, doxxing, and coordinated attacks. These efforts stunted participation, undermined election integrity, and corroded democratic engagement across New York City.
“The stakes of this research go far beyond one candidate,” added Thenmozhi Soundararajan. ““Our findings show that Islamophobic, xenophobic, and red-baiting disinformation doesn’t just target candidates like Mamdani and his supporters—it threatens all voters and our multiracial democracy itself.”