Jackson Hinkle: Archetypal Paragon of Misinformation in Current Social Media Landscape
The Israel-Hamas war still rages on, and the trend of False news and misinformation relentlessly escalating on X(Twitter). In Dfrac’s probe, Jackson Hinkle has been identified as the most influential fake news peddler regarding the ongoing war. In this report, we are going to unmask this fake news peddler and resolve the intricacies created by him.
This report encapsulates the following points:
- Who is Jackson Hinkle?
- Copy paste pattern
- Anti-pathy for Zelensky, False news about Russia-Ukraine war
- His Arabic Account, username changed in the past
- A closer look at the recent misinformation
- Conclusion
Who Is Jackson Hinkle?
He initially started as an environmentalist after completing his studies at San Clemente High School, in California. He founded a Team in 2016 under the name of Zissou Environmental Organization known for doing volunteer work such as cleaning the beaches. In addition, he served as a water ambassador for The Water Effect at The Ecology Center, featured in Teen Vogue as a young environmentalist, working to save the earth in 2017.
He joined X(Twitter) in 2019 and asked: “Help me expose the propagandists by subscribing to my X Premium for $3” in his bio, but our investigation revealed that he is one of the most dominant fake news peddlers on X(Twitter) by sharing false news and misinformation on ongoing war ever since the conflict began. He has sustained around 2.3 million followers on X(Twitter) till now.
Copy-paste Pattern
A thorough investigation of this account revealed that it shares a close link with some Arabic accounts on X(Twitter). A copy-paste pattern regarding false information spread by Hinkle has come to light.
Here’s false news of Jackson Hinkle related to Yemen and another Israeli-linked vessel that has been copy-pasted by other Arabic accounts with the same caption in the Arabic Language.
Further, a post about unfired bullets in a baby crib when Elon Musk visited Israel has been shared on an Arabic account with the translation of the caption in Arabic.
Another Post by Jackson Hinkle carries an image showing wounds of Palestinian woman before and after Israeli prison which has been shared by some Arabic accounts on X(Twitter).
Antipathy for Zelensky, False News on Russia-Ukraine War
The investigation unveiled that most of his tweets before the Israel-Hams war, centered around Russia-Ukraine War. The tweets can be classified into two categories. The first category deals with blurting out antipathy and hostility Here, the tweets are loaded with disgust and hatred especially for Ukrainian President Zelensky while the second category unravels false news on the Russia-Ukraine war circulated through his account.
The contemptible tone of his tweets can be seen in the collage provided above where he can be noticed considering Zelensky an ISIS for Europe, calling him a war prostitute, lambasting him for signing a law to move Christmas, and comparing him to Al-Qaeda.
Here are some snippets of misinformation based on the Russia-Ukraine War which have been found on Jackson Hinkle’s Account.
Misinformation 1:
On September 30, he shared a video on X(Twitter), and wrote: “Moscow does not have this problem”
Fact-Check
On searching some keywords, we found some media reports from The Moscow Times and Independent.co.uk. As per media reports, Moscow witnessed a Torrential summer rainstorm in the month of July this year.
Misinformation 2:
He shared an image on X(Twitter) with the caption: “Ukrainian Postal Service is now issuing stamps with the face of Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunko
Fact-Check:
On investigation, we found that the barcode given on the right of the image originally belonged to another postal stamp.
Misinformation 3:
He shared a video on July 31, 2023, showing the “Stop Zelensky, Stop War ” remark on the digital billboard of Japan and wrote: ” Stop Zelensky, Stop War!” In Japan”.
Fact-Check
While investigating the video, we discovered a similar video on the YouTube channel named VIRTUAL JAPAN that was posted on October 19, 2020.
The keyframe in the YouTube video at 21 minutes 31 secs was similar to the key frames of the above viral video except “Stop Zelensky Stop War’ remark.
It indicates that the ‘Stop Zelensky Stop war’ remark is digitally added to the shared video.
Username Changed in the Past
Upon conducting a thorough investigation, we found an account has been running with the same name but with a different username (@JackhinklleArab) propagating fake news, and sharing content from Jackson Hinkle’s Account.
It was formerly identified as “FPL tiki taka!” (@fpl_tikitaka), a football enthusiast.
Not only this, but the account running under the username @JacksonHinkleArab has also disseminated numerous misleading news by sharing them from Jackson Hinkle’s account with the content being translated into the Arabic language.
Further research of our investigation also disclosed that his channel named The Dive with Jackson Hinkle has been banned on YouTube on which he used to maintain around 3 lakh subscribers on YouTube. Not only this, but we have also discovered that spreading misinformation has resulted in him being banned from WhatsApp, Paypal, Twitch, Rumble, Venmo, Represent, and Teezily.
A closer look at the Recent Misinformation
He has emerged as a deceptive social media user who appealed to other users to support him in exposing propagandists in the vast social media landscape but originally, he has been found disseminating innumerable false news and misinformation on the Internet. Here’s a closer look at recent misinformation spread by Jackson Hinkle.
Misinformation 1:
Sharing an image on his account, he wrote: “Yemen has detained another Israeli-linked vessel”
Fact-Check
While investigating the claim, we found a media report by Reuters. As per media report, Yemen’s Houthis said, they hit a Norwegian tanker with the missile in their latest protest.
Misinformation 2:
He shared a video on Dec 13, 2023, with the caption: “The Zionists are even destroying Palestinian streets now!”
Fact-Check
By reverse-searching the keyframes obtained after converting the viral video, we found that the video is from June 2021 showing the Israeli military destroying roads to Masafer Yatta communities and a water pipe serving one.
Misinformation 3
He shared another video on Dec 10, 2023, captioning: “ISRAELI forces stormed a Palestinian prayer hall with civilians inside.
Fact-Check:
We converted the viral video into some keyframes and reverse-searched it on Google. Meanwhile, we found this video on the news websites ‘Aljazeera’ and ‘CNN’on April 5 and 6 stating “Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque for 2nd time”
Misinformation 4
Sharing a clip of Elon Musk’s recent interview on X(Twitter), he wrote; “Elon Musk tells the ZIONISTS: “Go F**K YOURSELVES!”
Fact-Check
When we converted this clip into some keyframes and reverse-searched it on Google. The Full video was found on CNBC’s YouTube channel where Musk spoke about advertisers who paused advertising on X(Twitter).
Viewership Analysis
In the subsequent research of his account, we discovered that he gained enormous viewership on X(Twitter) in the form of Likes and retweets followed by the Israel-Hamas War. Especially, the tweets related to false news and misinformation have garnered more than 64 million viewership from the month of October to December.
In addition to this, it is noticeable that there has been a sudden increase in his followers on X(Twitter) after the recent conflict.
Conclusion
We have provided a brief analysis of his account, covering all the essentials, in this special report. Not only media but social media also holds great significance in shaping and influencing public opinion. In this scenario, users turned social media influencers, like Jackson Hinkle who are on the path of spreading constant misinformation are proven to be a serious threat to the Internet and digital world in today’s era.
