Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Doxing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Doxing bill draws amendments tying online threats to intimidation and adding drone provisions; committee holds the measure
Summary
Senate Bill 140 would criminalize doxxing with intent to cause fear or facilitate harm and escalates penalties when serious injury or death results; amendments discussed would fold doxxing into the intimidation statute and add unmanned aerial-vehicle language. The committee held the bill for further work and invited stakeholders to review amendments.
Senate Bill 140, introduced by Senator Becker, would create a doxxing offense for posting another person's personal identifying information with intent to place them in fear of bodily injury, property damage or to aid a third party in committing a crime. The bill makes doxxing a class A misdemeanor and raises penalties to felony levels when the conduct causes serious bodily injury or death.
Committee members questioned whether the conduct described overlaps with existing laws such as swatting or false reporting; Representative Ireland contrasted swatting (a false report to law enforcement) with doxxing (publicly sharing identifying information). Representative Zimmerman proposed several amendments, including one that would add unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) prohibitions (unlawful flights over another's property and dispersal of substances) and another that would incorporate doxxing behavior into the existing intimidation statute as an element of making a threat.
Miriam Dant from the Anti-Defamation League testified in support, noting a national rise in online harassment and doxxing and saying the ADL generally supports measures that target criminal intent while protecting free speech. Committee members asked the ADL to review the proposed amendment that moves portions of the doxxing language under the intimidation statute; the witness said she would follow up.
The committee did not vote on the bill, opting to hold it for additional drafting and to allow stakeholders and prosecutors to review the proposed amendments.
