PRESS STATEMENT: CAIR-Chicago Files HISTORIC Class Action Lawsuit Vs. Canary Mission & StopAntisemitism
(CHICAGO, IL, 03/19/2026)The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a class action lawsuit against the anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian online blacklist platforms Canary Mission, and StopAntisemitism.
CLICK HERE: Read the lawsuit filing
The anonymous, Israel-based platform, “Canary Mission”, and the organization, “StopAntisemitism,” systematically dox Americans—particularly Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students and young professionals—for engaging in constitutionally protected political speech opposing Israel’s war crimes, mass civilian harm, and U.S. foreign policy regarding complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. Those targeted are frequently accused of promoting “antisemitism” or “anti-Israel” views and face backlash on university campuses, in their workplaces, harassment online, and threats to their personal safety.
Loyola University lecturer, Jewish ally, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) faculty advisor, and plaintiff Laura Goldstein said:
“In the spring of 2024, I received threatening emails in my work inbox, and I completely froze as a wave of pure fear washed over me. The emails were very violent and related to my gender… Shortly after, I realized that my social media profile as well as my faculty webpage had been published on Canary Mission with extensive articles written to link my work and professional activities to antisemitism.”
Plaintiff Laila Ali, a local artist and activist, said:
“I lost my job after my employer was flooded with coordinated calls and emails demanding my termination simply because I spoke out about Palestinian human rights. That experience was isolating and deeply unjust, and it showed me how far-reaching and damaging these doxing campaigns can be. I became a plaintiff because no one should be punished or live in fear for exercising their right to speak out against injustice. This lawsuit is about accountability—and about ensuring that others are not silenced for their advocacy.”
Emergency medicine physician and plaintiff Dr. Sam Sheikali said:
“The most notorious Zionist doxing networks and pro-occupation physicians launched a coordinated campaign to silence me. They filed complaints, contacted my board, and tried to strip my certification—not for anything I did clinically, but for what I said about humanity. It’s not hard to find someone’s address, and I live just down the street from where six-year-old Wadea was murdered and his mother was critically injured—for being Palestinian. One day, when God asks me what I did as children were starved and massacred, I’ll say I used my hands to heal as many as I could, and I screamed out against the perpetrators until my voice was hoarse.”
CAIR-Chicago’s lawsuit aims to hold these bully hate groups accountable under Illinois' "Civil Liability for Doxing Act". These groups threaten individuals nationwide by compiling and publishing dossiers of personal information, photos, and protected political speech—while evading accountability and exploiting gaps in enforcement.
Heena Musabji, Legal Director of CAIR-Chicago, said:
“What we are seeing is not isolated harassment—it is a systemic effort to chill protected free speech by instilling fear, threatening livelihoods, and exposing individuals to real-world harm for speaking out for Palestinian human rights. This lawsuit seeks to disrupt that model and affirm that civil rights protections extend online as much as they do offline. For too long, doxing networks have operated with impunity, relying on fear to do their work for them. This case challenges that impunity and shifts power back to the individuals and communities who have been targeted.”
CAIR-Chicago remains firmly committed to fighting the unjust exposure and defamation of Palestinians, Muslims, students, and activists who have been targeted for taking the morally correct stance against genocide. Individuals who believe they have been doxed in Illinois are encouraged to report the incident to CAIR-Chicago at www.cairchicago.org/doxing.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance.
CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; Heena Musabji, Legal Director of CAIR-Chicago, 312-212-1520, hmusabji@cair.com; Hafsa Haider, Communications Director of CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, hhaider@cair.com
