6 votes

Activism and doxing: Stephen Miller, ICE and how internet platforms have no good options

3 comments

  1. [3]
    Deimos
    Link
    This is a good article that goes through a specific doxing-like situation and talks about how difficult it is to make these types of decisions. As it says, a lot of people act like these are...

    This is a good article that goes through a specific doxing-like situation and talks about how difficult it is to make these types of decisions. As it says, a lot of people act like these are simple, black-and-white decisions, but they're really not. Trying to figure out which things need to be removed or are acceptable to leave up is extremely difficult, and no matter what you do there will almost always be some people that think your decision was the wrong one.

    2 votes
    1. acr
      Link Parent
      I think it's easier than a lot of people make it out to be though. One example of the article gave was people linking to a news article that "purported" to have public info. Those users didn't...

      I think it's easier than a lot of people make it out to be though. One example of the article gave was people linking to a news article that "purported" to have public info. Those users didn't post that information and it wasn't even a hundred percent clear if that information was actually there and public.

      I think a lot of it comes from the fact that different definitions get associated with the word dox or doxxing. The most common definition is to search for and publish private or identifying information on the Internet, usually with malicious intent.

      A lot of the complaints are people just wanting to hide behind the concept doxxing.

      If someone post someone's personal information knowing what people are going to do with it then it should probably be removed. The article mentions posting Miller's phone number. That was clearly done with malicious intent. It's usually pretty easy to see if something was done with malicious intent or not.

      But just like the example where users linked to an article that happened to have the public information, that's not so much black and white because those people didn't post that information. They linked to a source that allegedly had that information. That information was going to be up whether they linked to it or not. Anyone could find it even if they hadn't link to it. So their accounts shouldn't really have been touched.

      I just think that if someone comes out and puts out information themselves that you know is going to harm or cause problems, it should be removed at the very least
      Locking accounts might be a bit extreme in some cases.

      4 votes
    2. clerical_terrors
      Link Parent
      I feel like mistrust between parties and feelings of powerlessness have gotten to such a degree in the US that "there will almost always be some people that think your decision was the wrong one"...

      I feel like mistrust between parties and feelings of powerlessness have gotten to such a degree in the US that "there will almost always be some people that think your decision was the wrong one" doesn't hold as an explanation for people anymore, because to them some people's opinions can not be given though out of sheer principle.
      The ICE doxxing seems like a very good example of that: it was intended to be a means of citizen activism for a group of citizens who increasingly feel like they're running out of ways to contest decisions that are over the line, ethically speaking. That goal became far more important then deference to more abstract principles like "doxxing is not ok".

      2 votes