Anti-migrant rhetoric increased across the UK in 2025–spreading the message that non-white people are unwelcome in the country.

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, ISD editorial manager and analyst, wrote an op-ed for Big Issue drawing on ISD’s research into the rising tide of online hate targeting migrants.

Sid cited ISD’s work researching how anti-migrant messaging spreads online, particularly the growing prominence of the term “remigration”, which calls for full-scale deportations of migrants. 

“In 2023, posts on X discussing remigration which mentioned the UK received a little more than one million views, before surging to almost 55 million views in 2024,” Sid wrote. “In 2025 to date, these posts have received a staggering 420 million views.” 

Sid also wrote about the monetisation of hate, citing ISD’s reporting on of a Sri Lankan network producing thousands of anti-migrant posts on Facebook. 

On the rise of anti-migrant extremism, Sid highlights the significance of this surge and the path forward: “it is clear that ethno-nationalism in Britain is more prominent than it has been in years. To counter it will take more than the ‘easy’ solution of policing and moderation, but a failure to engage with the issue risks a darker, diminished country.” 

The full article is available on Big Issue.