Investigation reveals figure behind pro-Israel disinformation network

A Florida-based tech entrepreneur is the main actor behind a massive pro-Israel disinformation network that seeks to influence public opinion about Israel’s war against Gaza in the English-speaking world, according to an investigation by The guard has found.

The investigation exposed Daniel Linden, who previously co-authored a guide for users of the pornographic website OnlyFans, as one of the driving forces behind the Shirion Collective, an organization that has harassed pro-Palestinian activists, including Jewish ones.

The group also offers cash payments to anyone who exposes the online identities of supporters of the Palestinian cause.

Linden’s group is said to be responsible for spreading conspiracy theories surrounding the billionaire liberal humanist George Soros, who is considered a hate figure on the extreme right.

Shirion boasted of having a sinister AI-powered surveillance platform to be used against Israel’s enemies, but did not provide details on how it works.

The guard The organisation said its investigation used public records and open-source materials “to confirm information originally provided by the White Rose Society, an Australian anti-fascist research collective.”

The exact extent of Shirion’s influence is unknown, but the group primarily aims to spread pro-Israel disinformation in the United States, Britain and Australia.

Linden is responsible for setting up the collective’s crowdfunding efforts and plays a primary role in managing the group’s social media accounts, including coordinating a Telegram channel with 885 members. The guard Expectations.

Public records accessed by the British newspaper and online materials show that Linden lives in Gainesville, Florida, but has also recently been in Durango, Colorado, and Medellin, Colombia.

Shirion organized two GoFundMe fundraisers in April and May 2024. The first raised over $57,000, including an anonymous $10,000 donation. The fundraiser was for an effort to show footage of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel on trucks with large screens near universities in various U.S. cities.

The stunt was denounced in the US Congress after Congresswoman Ilhan Omar sharply criticized the screening of the footage at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Shirion is also said to have celebrated the deaths of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including Palestinian journalists and children.

On April 27, Shirion reportedly responded to a video containing images of destruction in Gaza by posting, “I love that Gaza looks like this now,” adding “FAFO:,” an acronym for “f**k around and find out.”

The guard reached out to Linden for comment through multiple channels, including several of the email addresses he listed, his business activities, phone calls, text messages, a direct message on Reddit, and social media site X, but received no response.