Former American Idol contestant Noah Orion recently claimed that cities are covering Flock surveillance cameras with trash bags and that he has distributed stickers reading “Fuck Flock”. He showed a mockup of an AI-generated sticker that matches the diameter of a Flock lens, though the image depicts a generic camera rather than the specific brand.
Orion had not discussed the company on Instagram prior to this post. Since then, he has published dozens of reels about Flock, including an image of a printed letter dated July 8. The document purports to be a cease-and-desist order from Dan Haley, head of legal affairs at Flock Group Inc. It warns Orion against disseminating photos, videos, or memes that encourage fans to place rude stickers on company property. The text states that failure to comply may result in legal action and persecution to the fullest extent of the law.
The post gathered 73,000 likes and millions of views. Orion has since uploaded the same letter 16 times and now focuses almost entirely on Flock. On Tuesday, he posted a video stating he could go to jail soon and is not afraid. He announced a plan to start a bail fund in case of arrest. Collectively, these updates have received hundreds of thousands of likes and millions of views.
The letter is not real. It is a fabrication created by the influencer to gain attention and followers. Orion faces zero risk of persecution for speaking about Flock, although he could face legal trouble for forging the document. According to NotJustAnalytics, he has gained over 30,000 new followers in the last month. During this period, his content has consisted almost exclusively of the fake letter and his stickers.
This pattern of claiming legal trouble is typical for Orion. Before focusing on Flock, he posted endlessly about a modified bus with massive speakers being impounded by authorities. Before that, he claimed he would be evicted from the space where he modified the vehicle.
Over recent months, various influencers have joined the scrutiny of Flock. Content about the company has become popular on social media. Most posts come from well-meaning people amplifying real reporting and information about one of the most invasive mass surveillance companies in the country. Some viral posts, however, misunderstand or oversell Flock’s capabilities. Others get the exact mechanics of how ICE obtains data wrong.
On balance, most posts are directionally correct. There is room for hyperbole, satire, comedy, and stunts within the movement against mass surveillance, especially if there is a broader point.
The difference between activism and fabrication
Orion and his copycats are not doing this. At best, he is making people aware of Flock and encouraging them to research the company or take political action. He is a country musician spreading the word, and perhaps his heart is in the right place. He is making things up to make himself and his music career more famous. He is sowing disinformation in a space where dozens of journalists and influencers work hard for transparency. He positions himself as being at legal risk when people doing actual needle-moving work struggle to stand out or face real threats.
On every post, Orion gives away stickers and tells people to comment “Fuck Flock” to receive them. This tactic games the Instagram algorithm. He has set up a bot to automatically message anyone who comments with links to his online store. The store sells free stickers, paid merchandise, and a “bail fund in case I go to jail.”
Flock and its lawyers have sent real cease-and-desist letters or issued threats against the creators of DeFlock, an open-source project to map Flock cameras. They have also threatened HaveIBeenFlocked, a database of Flock searches done by police around the country. Alongside reporting by 404 Media and local journalists, DeFlock has led directly to a massive, decentralized, grassroots movement of residents pressuring city councils to end Flock contracts.
Activists using HaveIBeenFlocked have uncovered numerous cases of police abuse and ICE surveillance. This work has led to firings, arrests, policy changes, and canceled contracts. The strategies deployed by Flock against these sites are far more sophisticated and scary than the obviously fake letter fabricated by Orion.
Flock went after Cris van Pelt, the creator of HaveIBeenFlocked, by repeatedly trying to get his web hosting revoked. The company claimed the site violated intellectual property rights and posed an immediate threat to public safety by exposing law enforcement officers to danger. Flock directly warned police about the website, which led different divisions of the FBI to warn law enforcement about the site. This squarely put a target on the platform.
Through a third-party law firm, Flock separately threatened DeFlock by sending a cease-and-desist to Will Freeman, the creator of the site. To fend off that order, Freeman had to get representation from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Flock’s CEO, Garrett Langley, called DeFlock a “terroristic organization” in an on-camera interview with Forbes. After that interview repeatedly went viral, Langley finally apologized in a second interview with Forbes earlier this month. These are actual threats against people actually doing the work.
