Doxing: The Politics, Panics, and Economies of Online Safety
For more than two decades, doxing has taken on many meanings. Once associated primarily with image board trolls and hackers, it has since become a tactic deployed by (and towards) a wide range of actors for disparaging purposes, from de-platforming political opponents and unmasking ICE agents to facilitating in swatting campaigns in gaming communities. While doxing continues to occupy multiple positions, be it a mechanism of community safety to a ubiquitous “weapon of visibility” in the “21st century culture wars,” its social significance has mutated. Most recently, while state agencies have relied on publicly available online information to identify and detain student protesters, governments are simultaneously rapidly adopting anti-doxing legislation that criminalizes the disclosure of public information, going so far as to describe it as a kind of domestic terrorism. This shift not only raises the political stakes of doxing but also codifies the moral panics with strikingly disproportionate punishments.
This talk traces the cultural history of doxing to examine how its meaning has changed and, in many ways, also remained remarkably consistent. By following the evolving relationships among states, platforms, corporations, activists, journalists, and varying online subcultures, this talk explores how doxing has reshaped ideas of accountability, visibility, and online safety, as well as the technologies that enable it. By examining the feedback loops between surveillance, counter-surveillance, and vigilantism, Jamie argues that a historical look at doxing offers a critical lens for understanding how online identification has become both a tool of community governance and an ambiguous threat to public safety.
Sunday 1600 Grand Ballroom
