Every Diwali, social media turns into a kaleidoscope of lights, laughter, and digital wishes. Timelines glow with pictures of diyas, reels of rangolis, and endless jokes about family shopping or burnt fingers from firecrackers. But amid this festive cheer, another kind of content quietly creeps in: memes that disguise hate as humour.
This year too, various memes have surfaced on the net. 'The usual.' A man with a backpack, captioned with an Islamophobic punchline comparing Muslims to “bomb-throwers.”
These have appeared repeatedly on X (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp groups, and meme pages, collecting laughs, likes, and retweets. To some, it is “just a joke.” But to many others, it was a disturbing reminder of how Islamophobia cloaks itself in comedy.
Hate wrapped in laughter
These memes might look harmless, but they’re digital hate speech in disguise. Humour makes people drop their defences. It normalises stereotypes before we even realise we’ve internalised them.
The “Muslim bomb meme” first appeared around 2017, often timed to festivals like Diwali or Holi, which are moments meant for celebration and community. Over the years, it has mutated into multiple forms, with new captions and edits, but the same core message: Muslims as violent or dangerous.
What makes this trend more worrying, experts say, is how easily it spreads. A meme needs no context, no fact-check, but just a share button. And in seconds, a stereotype turns viral.
Social media algorithms reward engagement, not empathy. The more people react, even with outrage, the wider such posts spread.
Platforms like Instagram and X have community guidelines against hate speech, but enforcement remains inconsistent. Many offensive posts linger online for weeks before they’re taken down, long after they’ve done their damage.
Even popular YouTubers from Kolkata have been observed propagating such content. One such link can be seen here.
Is it even legal to propagate such memes?
While talking to News Ei Samay, Advocate and cyber expert Bivas Chatterjee noted these memes could hurt religious sentiments, and legal steps can be taken for creating and sharing such memes. "Every festive season, as well as during sensitive incidents, police authorities have to keep a close eye on such content and curb its flow in order to avoid any conflict. Even though some memes that surface are posted under the garb of 'humour', they are equally capable of hurting religious sentiments, and complaints can be filed by anyone affected by such content online. There are provisions for the same under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanghita," said Chatterjee.