Latest news with #InstituteforStrategicDialogue
AFP
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- AFP
Footage of Indian amusement park misrepresented as showing Canada
"Is that REALLY Canada's Wonderland? Either way, YUCK," reads the caption of a July 16, 2025 X video. The video of people packed into a wave pool where most of the swimmers do not appear to be white was also shared to Instagram. Text over the footage claims it shows Canada's Wonderland, the country's largest theme park, in Ontario on May 18, 2025. ditional examples reveals the clip was also linked to Canada in 2024, with versions implying the crowd reflected former prime minister Justin Trudeau's open immigration policies. Image Screenshot of an X post taken July 18, 2025 Image Screenshot of a TikTok taken July 18, 2025 As Canada's once long-standing immigration consensus has broken down, AFP has debunked numerous claims about new arrivals, with many targeting people who moved to the country from India. Comments on the clip displayed insults and one account sharing it appeared to reference a slur for Indian people in its handle. In June 2025, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think tank reported a rising trend of anti-South Asian hate speech spread by Canadian extremist accounts amidst high immigration rates and heightened anxieties over housing availability and unemployment (archived here). While users implied the video supposedly showed a large number of Indian immigrants in Canada, the clip was actually filmed at a wave pool on the other side of the world "That is not Canada's Wonderland," said Grace Peacock, a spokeswoman for the park, in a July 17 email. Reverse image search results for the clip show the surroundings match other videos shared online and tagged at Blueworld Park in Kanpur, India (archived here). Social media posts claimed to have been taken at Blueworld and from the theme park's own Instagram page similarly display the wave pool misleadingly labeled as being in Canada (archived here and here), with the distinctive multi-color slides and the palace-inspired theme park hotel in the background (archive here). Satellite images of the park on Google Maps also match the slides and buildings seen in the video (archived here). Photos shared by users to Google Maps for Blueworld Park also visually match the misrepresented video (archived here). Image Screenshot taken July 18, 2025 of an image shared to Google Maps with highlights added by AFP By contrast, official images of the "White Water Bay" wave pool at Wonderland show it is located next to a rollercoaster with a yellow track. Image Screenshot of the Wonderland website image taken July 18, 2025 Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
RTÉ News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Irish anti-migrant mobilisation enters 'more organised phase'
Anti-migrant mobilisation across the island of Ireland has entered a new, more organised phase, according to the organisation which monitors disinformation and extremism. A new report from Institute for Strategic Dialogue, has found what began as scattered, localised protests in late 2022, has evolved into an "increasingly structured and internationally connected movement". It says this mobilisation is "characterised by street protests, intimidation, targeted violence and coordinated amplification online". According to the ISD, the 2024 Coolock protests marked a "major escalation" in anti-migrant mobilisation. It also says that there is "emerging colloboration" between groups in the North that would not have traditionally operated together. "Traditionally, nationalist and loyalist constituencies have operated in ideological opposition with distinct identities ... Emerging collaboration between actors on either side of the border marks a significant shift in the political landscape suggesting that shared perceived grievances can override older sectarian fault lines," it states. It said this overlap between Republic-based nationalist activists and Northern Irish Loyalist networks "laid the groundwork" for further collaboration seen in the Ballymena protests last month. The Institue also says Ireland's anti-migrant mobilisation is also being increasingly amplified online by far-right networks across Britain, Europe and north America. It says with 10.8 million followers on X, Conor McGregor remains "the most significant domestic amplifier of this content", using his social media platform to "lend mainstream credibility to far-right rhetoric". It states that Russian-aligned propaganda outlets are also actively engaged in promoting polarising and anti-migrant content here.
Irish Examiner
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Irish nationalists and Northern Irish loyalists 'finding common ground' on immigration, research finds
Irish nationalists and Northern Irish loyalists are "finding common ground" in anti-migrant protests, according to new research. A new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) finds protests that began as "localised expressions of opposition have grown into a more structured movement, with actors from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland participating in shared demonstrations and messaging". ISD's research points to a number of instances where Irish nationalist and Northern Irish loyalist groups appeared side by side at protest events. In August last year, representatives from Coolock Says No, an anti-immigration protest group, travelled to Belfast to participate in anti-migrant protests in the wake of a stabbing attack in Southport, England. The report says the "overlap" between Republic-based nationalist activists and Northern Irish loyalist networks "laid the groundwork for further collaboration" seen during protests in Ballymena and Limerick last month. This convergence reflects a broader trend in which traditionally opposed groups coalesce around common narratives. "This was observed in ISD's analysis of cross-ideological antisemitism following the October 7 attacks, where both Islamist and far-right actors amplified antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes," the report's authors say. The report says that some loyalist figures involved in these protests have "established ties to UK far-right and neo-Nazi networks", adding that Glen Kane, a former Loyalist paramilitary convicted of manslaughter for a sectarian killing in 1993 was present at an anti-migrant protest in Belfast 2024 alongside members of Coolock Says No, who had travelled from Dublin to participate. Protesters, the authors say, are increasingly crossing borders in both directions. In the same year, Kane was charged under public order legislation for possessing publications intended to incite racial hatred, including British National Party (BNP) materials and merchandise related to Britain First. "What stands out most is that groups who've historically been on opposite sides — Irish nationalists and Northern Irish loyalists—are now finding common ground in anti-migrant narratives,' said ISD hate and extremism analyst and author of the dispatch, Zoe Manzi. It's a major shift that shows old ideological lines are breaking down, replaced by shared grievances that are driving a growing and increasingly visible anti-migrant movement across the island. It adds that a "diverse range of international actors — including neo-Nazi and far-right networks — is embedding Ireland's domestic protests within wider global anti-migrant narratives". During the unrest seen in Ballymena last month following reports of an attempted sexual assault, some within the online anti-migrant ecosystem in the Republic of Ireland echoed core grievances promoted by loyalist actors, the report adds. It said this "demonstrates how anti-migrant sentiment on digital platforms resonates across ideological divides". It gives the example of Niall McConnell, a far-right activist and Independent election candidate from Donegal, who hosted Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member Mark Sinclair on his Youtube channel at the height of the unrest. The pair discussed setting aside historical differences to work against the perceived threat caused by immigration.
Hindustan Times
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Surge in anti-South Asian hate directed mainly at Indians in Canada: Report
Posts containing anti-South Asian slurs, mainly directed at immigrants of Indian origin, increased by over 1,350% from 2023 to 2024 on X, while police-reported hate crimes against South Asians in Canada went up by over 227% between 2019 and 2023, a report of the think tank Institute for Strategic Dialogue has said. High immigration from India has been blamed for issues like housing affordability and pressure on health and transport infrastructure, and rising crime. (PTI/Representative) The report released on Thursday said over 2,300 posts containing anti-South Asian rhetoric were shared across platforms and generated over 1.2 million engagements ahead of the federal election in Canada in April. It added the use of keywords such as slurs indicates the scale of hate targeting South Asians. The analysis said pajeet, an invented name which sounds Indian, was among the most common slurs. 'Between May 2023 and April 2025, there were over 26,600 posts which included 'pajeet' and other anti-South Asian slurs in the Canadian context, compared to nearly 1,600 posts containing anti-Muslim slurs,' the report said. Institute for Strategic Dialogue's data set showed that Indians were commonly targeted with language invoking the Great Replacement, an often at least implicitly antisemitism conspiracy theory alleging that non-white migration to Western countries is part of a plan by elites to deliberately change country demographics. 'Other posts contained wider stereotypes of Indians being dirty, dangerous, and clannish; by contrast to earlier caricatures of Indians being overly educated, they are often portrayed as lacking formal skills or training,' the report said. 'The staggering rise of anti-South Asian hate across Canada both on- and offline represents an urgent threat to these communities and the country's social fabric.' HT in August last year reported about the rise in xenophobia in Canada, driven by high immigration blamed for issues like housing affordability and pressure on health and transport infrastructure, and rising crime. Antipathy was focused on Indian immigrants, as they comprise the largest and most visible cohort of newcomers to Canada.
Toronto Star
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Steep rise in hate toward South Asians in Canada documented through social media posts
Canada has seen a steep rise in hate toward South Asians on social media in recent years, with a large spike occurring during the recent federal election — especially aimed at former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, according to a new report. The report, titled 'The Rise of Anti-South Asian Hate in Canada' and published by the U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, used the social media monitoring tool Brandwatch to analyze posts that mention Canadian cities and regions and South Asians on X.
