The Australian government announced on Tuesday that it will make doxxing illegal. This refers to the act of sharing someone’s personal or identifying information online without their consent. This decision was made after pro-Palestinian activists exposed the personal information of numerous Jewish individuals in Australia.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the proposed laws, which have yet to be drafted, would involve issuing take-down notices to social media platforms and imposing fines for the intimidation tactic.

The government reacted to recent reports from Nine Entertainment that pro-Palestinian activists had shared personal information of Jewish individuals employed in academia and the creative fields.

According to recent reports, a group of pro-Palestinian supporters shared a lengthy transcript, spanning 900 pages, that was allegedly leaked from a private WhatsApp group created by Jewish individuals in the fields of writing, art, music, and academia. The transcript also included a spreadsheet with personal information for approximately 600 members of the group.

Clementine Ford, the author and one of the activists who shared links to the leaked information, stated that it should not be regarded as doxxing.

Ford shared on Instagram that this conversation displayed highly coordinated actions to penalize Palestinian activists and their supporters.

Dreyfus stated that the updated legislation would enhance Australian measures against hate speech, although he did not provide much information on the specific implementation.

Dreyfus, a Jewish individual, expressed concern to reporters about the concerning trend of using online platforms to harm individuals by sharing their personal information without consent, also known as doxxing.

Dreyfus expressed shock at the recent targeting of Australian Jewish community members through practices such as doxxing. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.

There has been a rise in incidents of antisemitism in Australia following the start of Israel’s conflict with Hamas in October.

According to the online safety watchdog of the Australian government, doxxing, also referred to as “dropping dox” or documents, is when someone deliberately exposes an individual’s identity, private information, or personal details without their permission.

When questioned about his interpretation, Dreyfus described doxing as the intentional disclosure of individuals’ personal information without their permission.

Dreyfus stated that we should work towards safeguarding the lively and diverse community we live in.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which advocates for Australia’s Jewish community, expressed support for the government’s proposal to make doxxing illegal.

“We eagerly anticipate collaborating with the government to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the harm inflicted, and that the proposed laws adequately safeguard Australians from this disgraceful and hazardous practice,” stated Daniel Aghion, president of the council.

Nigel Phair, a cybersecurity specialist at Monash University, praised the concept of implementing legislation against doxxing. However, he raised concerns about the feasibility of enforcing such a law.

According to Phair, the enforcement of these laws poses a great challenge for policing agencies due to limited access to data. Ultimately, it is the social media companies who hold the responsibility. This statement was made during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“Our law enforcement agencies, dare I say, are already swamped with online investigations with the amount of crime that we have online. Adding this to it without any additional resources and the really integrated work with the social media platforms — it just won’t do much,” Phair added.

Source: wral.com