YouTube video by Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH)

The word “terrorism” casts a long shadow, implying threats of large-scale political violence and invoking the national security state. In the U.S., framing an intervention or set of policies as “counterterrorism” is a political maneuver that conveys a particular vision of “security” rooted in law enforcement or military intervention and that demonizes its targets as dangerous others. As such, counterterrorism funding and frameworks entrench a specific kind of othering rooted in the specter of racialized danger, and these policies have long been weaponized to target, disrupt, and dismantle social justice movements. This may happen with bans on “material support” sweeping so broadly as to ensnare nonprofits and human rights organizations engaged in strategic coordination with dissenting voices abroad, with controls on speech and publication and participation in public debate, and with direct criminalization through arrest, prosecution, detention, incarceration, and military or political violence.

This report presents a quantitative analysis of online Islamophobic and xenophobic discourse surrounding the New York City mayoral campaign between June 24 and October 31, 2025.