From “Food Jihad” to “Love Jihad”: Rise of communal content online | LME 117 | Pooja Prasanna

A Telugu YouTube channel recently accused Muslim vendors of selling “poisoned” food at a tribal festival in Telangana, without medical evidence, official complaints, or verification from authorities. Instead of investigation, the videos relied on confrontation, repeated use of conspiracy phrases like “food jihad,” and public shaming of small traders.

But this is not just about one festival or one channel.

Across India, a growing number of YouTube platforms are using a similar format: provoke in public, frame suspicion as reporting, upload quickly, and monetise outrage. From Telangana to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu to Kerala, isolated incidents are increasingly communalised online — often without evidence.

In this week’s Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna examines how hate is produced, amplified, defended, and normalised on YouTube, and why the consequences don’t stay online.

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Produced by Megha Mukundan, Script by Lakshmi Priya, Inputs by Anjana Meenakshi, Camera by Ajay R, Edit by Nikhil Sekhar ET

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