A/HRC/46/30 by a number of so-called “counter-jihad” and “alt-news” websites, blogs and organizations across Europe and North America. These theories have also directly incited terrorists to commit atrocities offline, including in Norway 41 and New Zealand, who frequently referenced such conspiracies as justifications for their acts. Echoing the trope of the Muslim terrorist, in India the “corona jihad” hashtag (#coronajihad) went viral on Twitter following the Government’s announcement of high levels of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection among the Muslim community. 42 Similarly, in Sri Lanka, disinformation rapidly spread online that Muslims deliberately disseminated COVID-19 in the country43 and, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Internet users alleged that Muslim communities were responsible for the spread of COVID-19.44 Encrypted chat platforms, including WhatsApp and Telegram, have also been used to spread Islamophobic disinformation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 45 In India, WhatsApp group chats and forwarding features have been used, including allegedly by government officials, to propagate disinformation about the Muslim population, depicting members of Muslim communities in India as criminals or terrorists and sometimes including specific calls to violence.46 The Special Rapporteur notes that surges in online hate speech are often sparked by offline “trigger events”. Such events may include terrorist attacks (including attacks on Muslims), comments made by prominent public figures and political events such as elections or referendums. 47 Following the attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, one civil society organization recorded an increase of 692 per cent in online attacks against Muslims, many using the same rhetoric as the attacker.48 Trigger events typically produce a strong response during the first 24–48 hours; these rapidly drop off but it can take months for online expressions of hatred to taper to the baseline.49 Notably, Muslims do not necessarily have to be perceived as “at fault” in the context of the trigger-event to be targeted. C. Discrimination Securitization Securitization of religious or belief communities encompasses a complex process through which the “normal rule of law is suspended in favour of exceptional measures justified by extraordinary situations” that threaten the security or survival of a society.50 Over the past two decades, Muslim individuals and communities have borne the brunt of the use and abuse of counter-terrorism measures. The Special Rapporteur highlights reports, including of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Human Rights Committee, indicating that national security and counter-terrorism measures have disproportionately and discriminatorily targeted Muslims in 15 States51 and that many such 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 https://journal-njmr.org/articles/10.2478/njmr-2013-0013/galley/107/download/. www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/01/coronajihad-only-latest-manifestation-islamophobia-india-has-beenyears-making. Submission by the Alliance for Minorities. https://blog.twitter.com/en_gb/topics/company/2020/twitteruk-amhwguk-working-partnership.html; https://fullfact.org/health/leicester-covid-outbreak-islam/. www.bcu.ac.uk/about-us/coronavirus-information/news/covid-19-sparks-online-islamophobia-asfake-news-and-racist-memes-are-shared-online-new-research-finds. https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/manufacturing-islamophobia-on-whatsapp-in-india/. https://tellmamauk.org/wpcontent/uploads/resources/Tell%20MAMA%20-%20Report.pdf?utm_source=Report+Launch+West minster+Bridge+09122018&utm_campaign=Westminster+Bridge+Report+09122018&utm_medium =email. www.tellmamauk.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Impact-of-the-ChristChurch-Attack-TellMAMA-Interim-Report-2019-PP.pdf. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/127085/1/Hate%20Behind%20the%20Screens.pdf. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781403969804. Australia (CERD/C/AUS/CO/18-20, para. 13), Austria, China, Eritrea (CCPR/C/ERI/CO/1, para. 17), France, India, Kazakhstan (CCPR/C/KAZ/CO/2, para. 13), Kenya, Netherlands (A/HRC/36/15, para. 131.114), Philippines, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Sweden (CERD/C/SWE/CO/22-23, para. 20, 7