My recent investigation for Pirate Wires exposed an extensive propaganda network that coordinates the dissemination of content sourced from foreign terror organizations across Reddit. The piece shows how widespread and deliberate the network is, with clear procedures and protocols for vetting new members, communicating online, posting, and coordinating engagement like mass upvoting or downvoting.

But the investigation also accomplished something else: through a series of unexpected developments following publication, it led me down a rabbit hole following the workings of a highly influential node within the Israel-Palestine information war. This was an anonymous person who goes by Zei_Squirrel, who's amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across multiple platforms, and who directs them in targeted raids on strategically important discourse operations. As I got further and further down the rabbit hole, I began to realize that — taken together — Zei's tactics illustrate a detailed, comprehensive blueprint for how information warfare is fought today.

By any definition, Zei_Squirrel is a super-soldier in the Israel-Palestine information landscape. But her significance goes beyond geopolitical propaganda (notwithstanding her frantic monomania regarding that conflict), and provides a rare glimpse into not just online propaganda tactics and methodologies, but how individual operators use a combination of disruption, radicalization, personal charm, online celebrity, resource coordination, and sheer manpower to achieve clear-cut strategic objectives on the digital battlefield.