Lawyer and “protest watcher” Caryma Sa’d reveals how Discord is being used by Antifa-aligned networks in Canada to coordinate harassment and share sensitive dossiers, linking these activities to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which has received over $900,000 in federal funding since 2020.

In a recent episode of the Bureau podcast, Canadian lawyer turned independent journalist, Caryma Sa’d, joined host Sam Cooper to discuss the rise of protest movements in North America and the West, particularly in the context of polarized societies.

Sa’d’s interest in street-level journalism began during the COVID lockdowns when she noticed a lack of media coverage of protest movements and their participants. She started documenting rallies, capturing speeches and signs, and exploring the competing interests at play. Over time, she observed patterns: the same individuals would appear from one protest to the next; she also noticed discrepancies between stated beliefs and actual behaviours, as well as differing police responses based on ideology and location. Smear campaigns against political targets and the involvement of government officials began to emerge as high-level issues, which prompted Sa’d to investigate the dynamics of the protest circuit and the “hate industry” in Canada, and how some groups received differential treatment by the government, indicating a potential bias in how protests are managed and reported.

Sa’d points to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network* as a key example of this bias, arguing that its narrow focus on far-right hate ignores leftist violence and has allowed far-left groups to operate with impunity. Recounting her own experience of being targeted by a hit piece that labeled her a fascist sympathizer, Sa’d said she thought it was a misunderstanding initially, an “honest mistake”. She continues:

“This comes after [the Anti-Hate Network] had approached me to try and work with me on producing some publications that never panned out. We couldn’t agree to terms and that was fine. And a few months after that, I was the subject of an article that framed me as a fascist sympathizer. And, you know, it’s only gotten worse since then. And I have now, with the benefit of time, seen the same pattern repeat for other individuals in much more extreme and harmful ways.”

The discussion moves onto the assassination of American political activist Charlie Kirk and the alleged shooter’s connections to the online messaging platform Discord, which serves as a significant mobilization tool for Antifa’s organizing efforts in Canada. Operating more like a decentralized cell structure rather than a formal membership system, Sa’d highlights the role of Discord in facilitating connections among members through private servers, where information is shared and organized regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Some Discord servers are reportedly used to compile dossiers on political targets she says, which can lead to harassment and intimidation. The information gathered may include personal details about individuals, suggesting that some participants may have access to sensitive information due to their professional roles (such as public servants or union members). While Discord can also be used for benign purposes, such as strategizing protests or sharing resources, the potential for misuse raises concerns about the impact on individuals targeted by these campaigns, sometimes forcing them to retreat from public life.

“And the real chilling part of it,” S’ad notes, “is police being made aware that this is happening, being provided evidence that it’s happening, and choosing not to investigate, or doing a cursory investigation that… doesn’t really yield results, not using all of the tools in their toolbox to explore what is a verifiable, documented phenomenon.

And I say that last part because some of the harassment then plays out publicly. Right. And like one way that that that occurs is through online swarming. And so you can see that it’s happening. But there just doesn’t seem to be an appetite in law enforcement to look into it.”

Podcast host Sam Cooper highlights the involvement of foreign entities, such as Hezbollah and Iranian diplomats, in targeting the Jewish community, as noted by the Australian government. He suggests that similar dynamics may be at play in Canada, where protests could be influenced by external forces. The U.S. intelligence community, he says, has identified China, Iran, and Russia as hostile states that fund and foment socially divisive protests in the U.S. Is it possible there may be a “hidden hand” behind the organization of these protests and the divisions they create in Canada?

S’ad describes a pattern of shifting protest topics, from lockdowns and anti-vaccine sentiments to issues such as drag story time and the gender curriculum, indicating that some movements may not be entirely grassroots. She emphasizes that Canada’s vulnerability to these influences is exacerbated by corruption within its institutions, from local school boards to the federal government, stressing:

“The fundamental problem for Canadians is that we don’t have our own house in order.”

Watch the podcast in full here at The Bureau’s website.

• The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) has received over $900,000 in federal grants since 2020, including $200,000 from Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund for projects targeting far-right groups, as documented in open government data. According to CAHN, as of August 2023 they are no longer receiving government funds.
• Critics allege CAHN’s activities align with government agendas, supported by a 2022 court ruling acknowledging CAHN’s association with Antifa, a group linked to violent actions, challenging its portrayal as a neutral human rights organization.
• Rising hate crime statistics, with 4,882 incidents reported in 2024 per Statistics Canada, up from 2,646 in 2020, provide context for government funding of anti-hate initiatives, though the effectiveness and impartiality of such groups remain debated.
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