Notorious conspiracy theorist and anti-Israel activist Jackson Hinkle spoke at the United Nations yesterday, in a press briefing sponsored by the Russian Federation.
Back from a trip to the Donbass region of Ukraine, Hinkle condemned “Ukranian acts of terror” and celebrated “hope and rebuilding under Russian efforts”. The viral misinformation-spreader also criticised the “false portrayals of Russian agression and Ukranian victimhood”.
Hinkle, 24, is an influencer and self-styled journalist who gained a platform after October 7. Since the Hamas attacks, Hinkle has shared content featuring antisemitic tropes, including a cartoon of Netanyahu drinking Palestinians’ blood. He calls himself a “pro-Russian American patriot Marxist-Leninist,” and offers a premium subscription on X to those wanting to help him “defeat the zionist lies”.
The influencer has shared misleading information about the war in Gaza, posting after October 7 that only 900 Israelis had been killed, 50% being Israeli soldiers. He has also repeatedly shared images of the war in Syria, which he claims to have been taken in Gaza.
According to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Hinkle is part “of a new cadre of people who exploit the algorithms’ insatiable desire for highly contentious content to benefit themselves economically”. Since October 7, Hinkle’s X following has increased from 417,000 to 2.6 million.
The influencer has been banned from Whatsapp, YouTube, and PayPal, but has succeeded on X, where conspiracy theorists have been allowed to thrive. Since Elon Musk took over the site last October, hate speech on the platform has more than doubled. The billionaire reinstated previously banned users, including Andrew Anglin, who founded the Neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer and between June 2022 and February 2023, antisemitic tweets doubled.
Although Hinkle has denied that he takes payments from foreign governments, he has regularly appeared on Russian state media, and visited both Russia and China this year at the invitation of state authorities.
At the UN, he appeared on a panel alongside Dan Kovalik, an American political activist and author of The Plot to Scapegoat Russia, and Christopher Helali, a political commentator who also makes regular appearances on Russia Today.
