Arrest of London, Ont. man for alleged online threats against South Asians highlights trend

London Police say they're dedicated to investigating incidents of online hate after arresting a local man for allegedly making hate motivated threats against the South Asian and Latin American communities in London.

The arrest comes just days after a report released by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which used Statistics Canada data and public social media posts, warned of a massive increase in anti-South Asian hate in Canada, including in online spaces.

"We received information from Google yesterday, reaching out to us concerned over some language that was being utilized over social media platforms. Once we got that information, we began the investigation," said Acting Insp. Amy Birtch, of the London Police Service (LPS), in an interview.

That same day, police arrested a 32-year-old London man and charged him with one count of uttering threats of death or bodily harm. It's unclear what the man said, and his posts have been taken down, Birtch said.

The arrest highlights a national trend, according to the data in ISD data. showing the number of social media posts on X in Canada that included anti-South Asian slurs jumped by more than 1,350 per cent between 2023 and 2024. It also says domestic extremists are amplifying that hate online, with similar sentiment shared thousands of times.

It's certainly happening. Especially with international students. Wherever you go, you feel like you are a target.- Shams Syad, President South Asian Association of London

Statistics Canada data shows police-reported hate crimes against South Asians rose by more than 227 per cent between 2019 and 2023.

In London, police-reported hate crimes in general have risen significantly in recent years, according to numbers from both Statistics Canada and the LPS. A report presented to the police board last month said 30 hate or bias-related crimes happened last year, with 26 people being charged.

Statistics Canada numbers say in 2023, over 100 hate-motivated crimes were reported to police.

When it comes to looking into instances of possible hate online, police said, the process isn't always simple.

"We don't see it often ... where [social media companies] contact us providing information," said Acting Staff Sgt. Zaid Zabian.

Zabian said it can be challenging to track down offenders online, but police do have ways of finding out who is behind posts that are made anonymously.

That means police have plenty of work cut out for them, as they take all reports seriously.

"Through the investigation, if it's deemed to be a criminal act, like threats, violence or property damage, we'll investigate it as a hate crime through the criminal acts committed by the person or the group," Zabian said.

Worth noting, Birtch said, is that while police can investigate what they believe to be hate-related incidents, only a judge can definitively label something as a hate crime.

Accoridng to Zabian, keeping track of trends like those outlined in the ISD report includes a heavy focus on community outreach.

That outreach includes frequent conversations with groups like the South Asian Association of London and Area.

President Shams Syed, said the increase in hate is felt deeply by his community.

"It's certainly happening. Especially with international students. Wherever you go, you feel like you are a target," Syed said.

Syed said he has experienced racism throughout his time in the London region, and he hears frequently from people in his community that they have, too.

While the solution for the problem is largely unclear, Syed suggests education should be a major aspect.

Until then, he said, he will continue to advise people in his community to try to focus on what they can control, while disengaging from sources of hate.

He said he himself will continue to advocate for compassion.

"If you cut [any human] and we bleed, the blood will be the same red blood," Syed said. "We all have the same blood. Why do we have to hate each other?"