NYC Gazette

Unauthorized Online Release of Personal Identifying Information on the Rise as Means of Violence and Harassment

Targeted Individuals Include Religious Groups, Minority Advocates, Government Officials

History of Antisemitic Targeting 

‘Doxing Threat Assessment Act’ Requires Department of Homeland Security Evaluate Threat Posed to National Security 

New York, NY – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today joined Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) in introducing the bipartisan Doxing Threat Assessment Act. This legislation would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to evaluate risks posed to national security and civilian privacy by malign actors releasing personal identifying information online with malicious intent. This harassment, known as ‘doxing,’ is used to incite violence against vulnerable individuals and groups. The ‘Doxing Threat Assessment Act’ will arm national security officials and law enforcement agencies with the knowledge necessary to combat the terror groups and malign actors engaged in doxing.

“With antisemitism and hate crimes reaching record-breaking levels, we must bring our efforts to combat hateful violence into the 21st century,”  Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Terror groups and hateful actors are weaponizing the internet and social media by inciting targeted violence and harassment through the release of information like personal addresses, phone numbers, and workplaces of private citizens. Far too often, the victims of doxing are members of vulnerable communities, who are already facing hateful targeting. It is imperative that we do everything in our power to protect these vulnerable communities and protect our country from the growing national security threat posed by doxing.”

As of 2022, 21 percent of Americans had experienced some form of doxing, most often stemming from online interactions with strangers. 51 percent of doxing cases result in victims facing serious harm including physical threats and having their identities stolen 

Many Members of Congress and other federal officials have had their personal information leaked in coordination with malign foreign-affiliated entities. 

Notably, the “Boston Mapping Project,” an antisemitic attempt to publicize the locations of Jewish community organizations in Boston and across Massachusetts, was endorsed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (a U.S.-designated terrorist group) and Iranian state-run media entities. Additionally, the Islamic State terror group published online “kill lists” with identifying information on U.S. nationals.

The Doxing Threat Assessment Act, which is endorsed by the Anti-Defamation League, would direct the development and dissemination of a threat assessment on the employment of cyber harassment tactics in order to inform future policymaking and law enforcement and to prevent targeted attacks on community institutions and persecuted groups.

Original source can be found here.