Flock denies sending viral legal threat to Newport Beach lecture group
A claimed cease-and-desist letter prompted criticism online, but Flock Safety’s strategy chief said the company did not send it.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Flock Safety denied sending a cease-and-desist letter that appeared in a viral social media post by a Newport Beach, California, lecture group. The denial matters because the post fed criticism that the surveillance technology company was trying to stop public discussion of its work with law enforcement.
The Saturday Salon, which describes itself as a lecture series, posted a photo Thursday on Instagram of what it said appeared to be a letter from Flock Safety, according to The Verge. The group’s post said it would not be silenced and described its prior event as a discussion about surveillance, privacy, safety and civil liberties.
The image spread quickly. The Instagram post had more than 3,000 likes, according to The Verge, while a separate Bluesky post about the letter had more than 360 reposts.
The text shown in the photo demanded that the group stop holding conversations about Flock’s surveillance technology, The Verge reported. In a direct message to The Verge from The Saturday Salon’s Instagram account, Schuyler Lifschultz said the group found the letter taped to its front door.
Company says the letter was fabricated
Flock denied responsibility for the letter. Rahul Sidhu, the company’s chief strategy officer, said on X that the company did not send it and called the episode part of a broader disinformation effort targeting Flock.
“Flock never sent this letter, these people made it up (with a forged signature) to try to manipulate people,” Sidhu wrote, according to The Verge. Sidhu also wrote that Flock supports democratic discussion and said people should hold lectures and discussions like the one described by The Saturday Salon.
The Verge reported that Flock has drawn significant backlash over its surveillance technology and its work with law enforcement agencies. The company sells tools associated with public safety and policing, and critics of such systems often raise concerns about privacy and government monitoring.
The Saturday Salon’s post framed the purported letter as an attempt to chill conversation about surveillance. Flock’s public response cast the document as fake and accused the group of manufacturing outrage.
The Verge did not report an independent authentication of the letter. The competing claims leave the central dispute unresolved: The Saturday Salon says it found the document at its door, while Flock’s strategy chief says the company did not send it and that the signature was forged.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.