CASE Publishes China-Linked Claims About Flock Critics, Amplified in 40 TV Markets

Consumer Action for a Strong Economy published a report alleging that opposition to Flock license-plate-reader cameras and AI data centers is tied to China-linked activist networks. Fox News and a Sinclair-produced local-TV package then amplified the claim, with the latter identified in at least 40 markets.

The report, The Compute War At Home, links opposition to data centers to concerns about surveillance, policing and immigration. It cites organizations associated with technology billionaire Neville Roy Singham and alleges ties to China-linked activist networks. Rob Joyce, the former head of the National Security Agency, wrote the foreword.

The report’s proposed mechanism

CASE says conservative critics do not share the politics of the left-wing groups it names. Instead, it argues that left-wing groups first raised these concerns and that privacy, surveillance and distrust of government technology helped spread them. It cites Singham-funded groups’ posts and information sessions about Flock and data centers.

81%Classifiable Flock-data-center posts

CASE said these posts came from right-wing, conservative or libertarian accounts, while arguing the issue originated with far-left interests.

At least 40Local markets carrying Sinclair package

404 Media identified the Sinclair-produced package in at least 40 local television markets.

A lobbying claim reaches local news

Fox News published coverage portraying groups associated with the No Kings protests as part of a pro-China network opposing AI data centers and Flock cameras. The National News Desk, a Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned production team, distributed a similarly framed segment titled “Report: Far-left network behind ‘No Kings’ protests targeting AI data centers, Flock cams.”

404 Media reported that the CASE document does not mention the No Kings protests. It said the Fox and Sinclair coverage implied a link through groups that had appeared at the protests and also posted about Flock. That turns overlap between organizations into a broader claim about why a decentralized movement objects to surveillance.

The association is not the whole explanation

The cited ties establish that some named left-wing groups received Singham funding and discussed Flock or data centers. But 404 Media argues that does not show they drove the wider debate. Its reporting describes opposition from people across political and economic backgrounds, focused on mass-surveillance concerns and reported misuse of the technology.

The politicians cited by 404 Media also cross party lines: Republicans Ron DeSantis, Josh Hawley and Thomas Massie, alongside Democrats Josh Shapiro, Ron Wyden and Ed Markey. That does not settle whether outside groups seek to shape the debate. It does challenge a single-origin account of Flock criticism.

The coverage follows earlier attacks on Flock critics by the company’s chief executive. 404 Media reported that Garrett Langley called DeFlock a “terroristic organization” and later apologized for remarks about activists opposing Flock. The question is whether a foreign-influence frame shifts attention from surveillance concerns to the people raising them.