On April 1 the New York Times reported on the “mysterious” website, Canary Mission, which doxxes university students, faculty, and others, exposing the targeted person to harassment and even deportation for any criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. On March 29 the Washington Post reported on Betar, a pro-Israeli group that is so extreme that it is called a “hate group” by even the ADL. And on March 28 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on the Jewish Onliner and the possible connection between this “AI-powered website” and Israel’s public announcement to spend millions of dollars on an online influence campaign which reportedly include the use of AI technology. In June Middle East Eye reported on the “Shirion Collective” which allegedly runs online bullying and harassment campaigns against pro-Palestinian activists (including against many Jews) directed by Daniel Linden of Gainesville, Florida, whose only other claim to fame is having written a guidebook to the sex website, OnlyFans.
Organizations such as these brag of publishing “deport lists” calling for the deportation of students, faculty, and activists on university campuses, and seeing the U.S. government detaining the named person—sometimes within 24 hours of the name appearing on the list. Betar claims to have 3,000 individuals on its list, and will soon add another 1,800 more names to the list. At least nine students and professors identified on these lists have either been detained or face possible deportation.
These targeted individuals are often highly accomplished professionals in their fields with no criminal records or accusations of violence, raising suspicions that the reason that federal authorities would be pursuing them is solely because of their names being published on these “deport lists.” A U.S. State Department spokesman was asked about the role of these “deport lists” at a March 31 press briefing, but the official refused to reveal any details of how targets are chosen. While these organizations claim to know their targets, they traffic in “misinformation, omissions, quotations taken out of context and allegations based on guilt by association,” according to the Middle East Studies Association.
One of the people doxxed by Canary Mission is Andrew Ross, a New York University professor who said, “If you find yourself on Canary Mission, you’re subject to a lot of harassment and intimidation and campaigns to have you fired. Character assassination and death threats are pretty common. All of these things certainly happened to me over the years.”
