The doxxing epidemic: how the rise of social media has endangered public figures

Internet doxing has become a rising problem in the US since the 2000’s; many modern-day targets being famous Youtubers and streamers along with business officials, judicial officials, and law enforcement workers. 

Anonymous, the famous hacker and doxxer, has historically leaked the addresses of many government officials. They are one of the thousands of people across the internet that will share the private information of individuals on the internet, endangering many in the process.

“Swatting calls targeted members of Congress and municipal leaders, while federal judges involved in high-profile matters received threats accompanied by suspicious packages,” explained the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) that in an age of social media and online figures, doxxing needs to be taken more seriously as a crime.

Many states lack laws that prosecute individuals for doxxing specifically, and the ones that do have laws regarding doxxing heavily vary from each other, such as, exclusively posting an individual's information online, to including harmful actions in posts. Only nine states in the U.S. allow victims to pursue criminal charges and civil action against a perpetrator.

The problem with internet doxxing is there is no official definition in law, meaning that the country can’t agree on what should and shouldn’t be considered doxxing. While doxxing is not technically illegal everywhere in the U.S. and even when a person leaks information, in some states, the actions of the doxxer must explicitly inflict pain on the victim or the use of the information must have led to violence inflicted on a victim for it to be considered a crime by the state.

The longest sentence seen in doxxing was 20 years of prison time. This incident regards a man named Andrew Finch who got into an argument with Casey Viner over a Call of Duty match, this led to a swatting where Andrew Finch was fatally shot. Casey Viner only got 15 months of prison time for leaking the address, while the person who called the police; named Tyler Barriss, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

“In metropolitan regions like the Bay Area, Seattle, and Austin, employees in tech-adjacent roles have also faced threats,” stated the NAAG, explaining that with the rise of technology-based work, doxxing and swatting of public figures has become increasingly worrisome.

In some cases, doxxing leads to swatting, the act of filing a false report on someone to send armed officials to their location, which many government officials and famous individuals have had to endure solely because of their presence online. Many of the perpetrators get away with exceeding ease, being able to disguise their locations to avoid consequence, leaving the victims traumatized and worried for their safety.

One instance involved Sorrenti, a transgender Twitch streamer in London who was swatted. She awoke to authorities banging on her door. When she answered, a gun was promptly pointed at her head, and she was escorted to the police station. She was misgendered during her investigation with the police which left her even more dehumanized. In addition, her technology was confiscated which left her in a money deficit, and she started a GoFundMe to help her get through her struggling time. Sorrenti was put through this adversity due to the doxxing that she faced.

Internet doxxing is a huge problem that has reoccurred thousands of times over the century. The U.S. needs to put a stop to this issue promptly. As technology continues to advance, cases will only become worse, and it’ll be harder to identify the doxxer. The government needs a universal law to combat innocent people from getting potentially hurt and dehumanized.