The pandemic has led tons of people online to constantly abuse the country and its citizens, even spitting racial slurs. A report from L1ght, a company that specializes in measuring online toxicity, suggests there has been a 900% growth in hate speech towards China and Chinese people on Twitter. Plus, a lot of users are using discriminatory hashtags such as #chinaliedpeopledied, #Chinavirus, and #Kungflu to tweet about the disease. [Read: Europol is chasing hackers exploiting the coronavirus pandemic] L1ght’s study also highlights that there have been 200% increase in traffic to sites and posts that targets Asians. For instance, a video posted by Sky News Australia titled “China willfully inflicted coronavirus upon the world” has a bunch of hate-filled comments.
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) January 28, 2020 This phenomenon, however, is not just limited to online forums. A report by Vox highlights that a number of Asian Americans are facing racism on the streets. Researchers found that San Fransisco had more than 1,000 reported cases of xenophobia between January 28 and February 24. The UK also registered several cases of hate crime in recent weeks. In Melbourne, several parents reportedly stopped Asian doctors from treating their children last month. On one hand, the world is trying to unite by supporting each other and get through this pandemic, but there’s also an increasing hatred towards Asian communities brewing online and offline. It’s not the right time to play the blame game, rather, it’s time to collaborate and find solutions. And in such a crisis, it’s saddening to see racism flourish. Moreoverer, online platforms must also take some degree of responsibility, and find solutions to stop biased and xenophobic behavior.
