Anti-Asian hate online has seen an alarming surge following Donald Trump’s presidential victory with South Asian people as the largest target, according to new research released Thursday by Stop AAPI Hate.

The data looking at online slurs and threats of violence against Asian communities in monitored Domestic Violent Extremist (DVE) spaces in the U.S. between January 2023 and January 2025, reveals significant rises in anti-Asian hate online between election day (November 2024) and the inauguration (January 2025).

READ: Trump sides with Musk in H-1B war (December 29, 2024)

The surge in anti-Asian hate takes place amid intensifying anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric from Trump and his allies, on the campaign trail and from the White House, according to a press release. This has created a hostile environment where any spotlight on immigrants and/or their countries of origin can set off a wave of racism.

For example, Anti-South Asian hate spiked significantly in December 2024 when Trump, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy sparked a public debate about the H-1B visa program against the backdrop of Trump’s relentless xenophobic rhetoric.

Anti-East Asian hate also flared with the H-1B visa debate and was additionally fueled by alleged events involving the Chinese military (December 2024) and news about Chinese-owned companies including TikTok and DeepSeek AI (January 2025).

The data, according to the release, highlights the animosity towards U.S. ethnic communities that can arise when immigrants and/or their countries of origin are unfairly portrayed as economic, public health, or national security threats by public figures.

Existing research suggests that the occurrence of hate acts online – including in extremist spaces – corresponds with the occurrence of hate incidents and hate crimes offline, according to the release. It typically takes months or even years for data on in-person hate acts to be released, so online spaces serve as an important early warning system for what’s happening in real time to people offline as well.

“We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person — which Trump is fueling with xenophobic rhetoric and policies,”said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years. And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate. Their goal is to build a climate of fear in our communities, but we will not be silenced.”

Key findings from the examination of DVE spaces in the U.S. from Nov 2024 – Jan 2025:

• Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory caused a dramatic rise in anti-Asian hate in extremist online spaces. January 2025 had the highest number of anti-Asian slurs since monitoring began in August 2022. Since the election, anti-Asian slurs have dramatically increased by 66% and, amongst Asian American subgroups, South Asians communities have been most targeted, with 75% of slurs directed at them in December 2024 and January 2025.
• Anti-East Asian slurs also saw a dramatic rise in January 2025 jumping by 54% compared to December 2024 and 51% compared to November 2024 post-election.
• Online threats of violence towards Asian communities reached their highest levels in  December 2024 and remained high in January 2025, which may be attributed to the H-1B debate amongst Trump’s supporters, where some factions are pushing for even more extreme anti-immigrant policies.
• Anti-Asian threats increased 59% from Nov. to Dec. 2024. Of the December threats, 76% were directed at South Asians equivalent to 884 threats of violence online.

Immediately following the election, stories Stop AAPI Hate received through its reporting center reveal that Trump’s election and anti-immigrant policy plans have also emboldened bad actors to more aggressively target and attack Asian people offline.

READ: Trump 2.0 highlights growing influence of Indian Americans (January 20, 2025)

The latest surge in anti-Asian hate raises serious concerns about the safety and wellbeing of AAPI communities during the remainder of Trump’s presidency, according to the release.

“As the only racial group that is majority foreign-born – and accounting for 1 out of every 7 undocumented immigrants – AAPI communities are experiencing devastating harms as a result of Trump’s xenophobic agenda,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “Trump and his loyalists have shown us that they don’t care about the consequences of their bigotry and will continue to exploit political power to fuel more hate, manufacture fear, spew disinformation, divide Americans, and erode our democracy. But Stop AAPI Hate is ready to fight back by activating AAPI communities to stand strong and united against Trump’s anti-immigrant, racist crusade.”