Pathology

Sociology

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Criminology

Pandemic

Politics

Outbreak

Political science

Psychology

Virology

Islamophobia

Anger

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Social media

Media studies

Medicine

Social psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted people's lives driving them to act in fear, anxiety, and anger, leading to worldwide racist events in the physical world and online social networks. Though there are works focusing on Sinophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic, less attention has been given to the recent surge in Islamophobia. A large number of positive cases arising out of the religious Tablighi Jamaat gathering has driven people towards forming anti-Muslim communities around hashtags like #coronajihad, #tablighijamaatvirus on Twitter. In addition to the online spaces, the rise in Islamophobia has also resulted in increased hate crimes in the real world. Hence, an investigation is required to create interventions. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first large-scale quantitative study linking Islamophobia with COVID-19.

"A Virus Has No Religion": Analyzing Islamophobia on Twitter During the COVID-19 Outbreak