INDIA Since Modi’s rise to power in 2014, India has witnessed a significant increase in violence and brutality over the last decade. The BJP, underpinned by Hindutva ideology, has promoted a vision of Hindu supremacy that is built on hate and exclusion and is often perpetuated by different means.166 This ideology is not only propagated by the BJP but is also echoed by a network of fascist Hindu nationalist groups, including, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)167 and Vishwa Hindu Parishad and their various local branches.168 By 2023, these Hindutva forces have embedded themselves in India’s public discourse, not only through the institutionalization and mainstreaming of their ideology. This shift began in post-2017, as once marginal or militant groups transitioned into more prominent roles within the dominant political landscape, fully forming the Hindu national ethnostate project.169 This institutional support amplified Hindutva groups ability to spread hate through different means, including conspiracy theories, content creation and campaigning, among others. In 2017, the BJP implemented a strategy that consisted of recruiting citizens to become ‘entrepreneurs of hate’ across the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), with the aim of capturing the attention of smartphone users from Lucknow to rural Manikpur. These entrepreneurs were organized within ‘Information Technology (IT) cells’. With an estimated 530 million Indian users on Whatsapp, 448 million on Youtube, 410 million on Facebook, 210 million on Instagram, and 175 million on X, India has become the largest market for Meta and its affiliated companies. This digital landscape made it easier for the BJP to establish the IT cells, first informally to promote their narrative and now formally as they are recognized as a department within the BJP that manages social media campaigns for the party and its members. This IT wing, in both its formal and informal factions, exists to serve 166 Dasgupta, Jashodhara; Singh, Satish Kumar; Contractor, Sana Qais; Das, Abhijit; Mukhopadhyay, Maitrayee (2024). “Disrupting Anxious Masculinity: Fraternity as Resistance”. the Institute of Development Studies and partner organisations. Journal contribution. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12413/18248 167 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Accessed September, 2024. https://www.rss.org/ 168 Chakraborty, Angana. “The Rise of Hindu Nationalism and Its Regional and Global Ramifications.” Education About Asia, Volume 23, No. 1 (Spring 2018) https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/the-rise-of-hindu-nationalism-and-its-regional-and-global-ramifications/ 169 The Sakal Hindu Samaj in Maharashtra exemplifies this trend, being a coalition of groups like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, and others. The SHS organized 38 mass rallies in 2023. India Hate Lab. (2024). India Hate Lab Report. https://indiahatelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/India-Hate-Lab-Report-Final-12.pdf 49