AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Recent disclosures across social media show how hate speech targeting Muslims in the West is systematically produced, monetized, and injected into unsuspecting audiences. The new X (formerly Twitter) feature, which displays approximate account locations based on IP data, has revealed that many accounts posing as “patriotic” British or American users are in fact run from Asian and African countries.
These operators exploit fear, ignorance, and prejudice to create Islamophobic content that spreads widely and generates revenue. The platform’s new “About This Account” tool has also helped identify bots and fake accounts, revealing that some profiles appearing to support Trump or oppose immigration are managed by foreign actors taking advantage of political divisions in the West.
Analysts say that since Elon Musk took ownership of X, the volume of anti-Islam content has increased, with platform algorithms amplifying such posts.
Meanwhile, a joint investigation found that a Sri Lankan content creator earned nearly $300,000 by posting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic material, particularly targeting British users. A report by the ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue) and The Times exposed that his network, with more than one million followers, spreads fabricated and Islamophobic narratives using simple visuals and emotional music — including the false claim that London Mayor Sadiq Khan is building homes “exclusively for Muslims”.
According to the report, parts of this content align with political objectives, as pages linked to the network promote anti-Labour Party and anti-Muslim narratives.
Professor Peter Hopkins, author of Everyday Islamophobia, told Islam Channel that Islamophobia has become a global industry benefiting networks of organizations, activists, lobbyists, and influencers seeking political and financial gain. He noted that in countries such as the United States, individuals can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars by producing Islamophobic content, even in the form of short posts or articles.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a recent webinar, also warned that coordinated networks are fueling the surge in Islamophobia, with some activities linked to groups supporting the Zionist regime and associated political actors seeking to silence critics of the regime’s actions in Gaza by amplifying anti-Muslim narratives.
This alignment between political interests and online profiteers has helped normalize Islamophobia to a degree rarely seen in recent years.
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