South Asian newcomers to Canada say online hate is taking a toll

International student Miran Kadri had many things on his mind when he made the move from Gujarat in western India to Windsor, Ont., last year. Among them, concerns about how he would be perceived in the country he would shortly call home.

Even while in India, Kadri had come across social media pages online filled with anti-Indian commentary.

And as hate crimes toward South Asian communities have seen a steady increase, the topic of racism, typically shied away from within South Asian cultures, is at the forefront of the community's mind as they grapple with how to confront it.

"I used to go through these pages and see comments about how Indians take jobs away, how people feel insecure about Canada's future because of Indians coming to Canada," said Kadri.

At 24 years old, Kadri is active online and sees comments like this on a regular basis, even after being in Windsor for over a year now, pursuing his master's degree in electrical and computer engineering. He says those comments are not easily disregarded.

"It definitely has an impact, because we already have a lot to stress about, like exams, finding jobs after we graduate. On top of that, we get these comments on us and it continuously revolves around our heads," he said.

"It kind of stays [with you] and we have nobody to talk to about it, because even if we share with our friends, they have their own issues with racism."

Kadri outlined that even on posts such as a local promotion about an Indian festival, comments were filled with foul language and discriminatory remarks.

Gaganeet Kaur, a 25-year-old master's student in criminology who came to Ontario from Chandigarh, India, has seen it as well. She says that the online landscape has changed the way she shows up in everyday life, even after being in Canada for seven years.

"I find myself being twice as cautious. I don't want to be the problematic one, the way they are playing us out to be on social media," Kaur said.

Kaur has also witnessed social media pages dedicated to discrimination of Indian people in Canada. 

A handful of now-viral TikTok accounts with no names attached have caught attention. They use AI-generated images of Indian flags and people, alongside the caption "Canada in 2050."

One example, a video that has gained over 200,000 "likes," has not been removed despite thousands of anti-immigration comments. The rhetoric has had a real-life effect on people like Kaur and Kadri.

"This is probably the hardest time I've had finding a job, which of course has to do with the current state of the market, but it also makes me think, does that also have to do with some of the tensions and opinions that people have about the South Asian community?"