Investigation identifies tech entrepreneur behind pro-Israel hate network: Report
By newseditors // 2024-07-02
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A tech entrepreneur living in Florida is a prime mover behind a pro-Israel disinformation network seeking to shape public opinion about the Gaza conflict, an investigation by the Guardian newspaper has found. (Article republished from MiddleEastEye.net) The investigation alleged that Daniel Linden, who co-wrote a guidebook for OnlyFans users, is one of the main hands behind the "Shirion Collective", an organisation that has harassed pro-Palestinian activists and offered cash for anyone who could publicly reveal online identities. The organisation is also responsible for spreading conspiracy narratives centred on figures like George Soros. It has boasted about an AI-surveillance platform but has not offered many concrete details of how the alleged technology functions. The Guardian said its investigation used public records and open source materials "to corroborate information originally provided by the White Rose Society, an Australian anti-fascist research collective". Shirion Collective seeks to spread disinformation in the US, UK and Australia. Linden set up Shirion’s crowdfunding efforts and appears to play a central role in operating the network’s social media accounts, including the coordination of the group’s efforts on a 885-member Telegram channel, the Guardian reported. Public records and online materials indicate he lives in Gainesville, Florida, but he has also had recent stints in Durango, Colorado, and Medellin, Colombia. The Guardian said that it had emailed Linden at several addresses associated with him and his business ventures, and attempted to contact him via phone, text, a direct message on Reddit and a post tagging an X account associated with one of his ventures seeking comment on this reporting, but received no response. Shirion has been criticised in the US congress and attracted media attention around the world through its attempts to shut down criticisms of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Shirion organised two GoFundMe fundraisers in April and May of 2024 for an operation in which trucks with big-screen monitors near universities in various US cities showed footage of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. The move attracted the attention of critics including Representative Ilhan Omar, who spoke out in Congress against Shirion’s screening of the footage to the University of California, Los Angeles protest encampment. Starting in late 2023 on X, Shirion began offering what it described as "bounties" for the identification of people involved in pro-Palestinian protests whom they characterised as antisemites. Online, the group has repeatedly celebrated the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza, including Palestinian journalists and children. On 27 April, Shirion responded to a video that included images of destruction in Gaza, posting “Love that gaza looks like That now”, adding “FAFO”, an acronym for “fuck around and find out”. Read more at: MiddleEastEye.net
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