Doxxing, Swatting, Catfishing and Other Unpleasantness

Doxxing, swatting and catfishing are mechanisms for interpersonal harassment. This article presents an introduction to forms of online harassment that can cause significant emotional and psychological harm. Combating these harassment strategies requires a combination of preventative education, legal measures and personal support interventions. Mechanisms of online interpersonal harassment change with the evolution of technologies and the laws that mitigate their use.

Types of Online Harassment

Doxxing
Doxxing is the act of sharing personal information of an individual online (e.g., home address, phone number, financial details) without their consent. The terminology originates from “releasing personal documents”. The motivation for this act is generally to incite further harassment of the individual by third parties, and to cause psychological harm to the target individual. Doxxing may include activities such as repeatedly ordering pizzas to the home address of the target requiring payment. Doxxing has been used in Australia to target numerous private and public figures, including journalists reporting on controversial or politically charges issues, and social activities advocating for contentious causes. The motivation for the doxxing behaviour in these cases is to dissuade the target individuals from continuing their work. In some instances, doxxing can result not only in psychological harm but physical threat to the safety of an individual and their family.

Swatting
Not only a reference to cramming last minute for exams, swatting refers to the criminal harassment act of deceiving an emergency service into sending a response team to the target individual’s address (work or personal). The false report may include emergencies such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, armed person, family violence incident in progress, or mental health emergency such as suicidal or homicidal ideation. The term is derived from the American “SWAT team” terminology for tactical response to an emergency. A false report may be submitted via encrypted online means rather than direct telecommunication to avoid identification of the sender.

Catfishing
Catfishing is the act of creating a fake identity or impersonating someone else to deceive and manipulate the target individual. This may include pretending to be someone else online to harm their reputation or relationships. Well known examples of catfishing cases in Australia include the case involving a young gun AFL player in 2016, and Renae Marsden a 20 year old woman in Sydney. The AFL case involved the player being catfished by an individual pretending to be a young woman online. The perpetrator used fake photos and created an elaborate backstory to gain the player’s trust and engage in an emotional relationship. When the truth was revealed, the AFL player experienced humiliation and distress. In the case of Ms Marsden, she died by suicide in 2013 after she discovered she had been the target of catfishing. She believed that she was in a year-long romantic relationship with a man named “Brayden”, who she communicated with online and via text messages. She experienced deep distress when she discovered “Brayden” did not exist, and her friend Camila Zeidan had orchestrated the deception. At the time, there were no laws in place which allowed prosecution of Ms Zeidan, but the coronial enquiry made recommendations for legislative change.

Trolling
Also known from Nordic folklore as a grotesque hairy monster, Trolling refers to the deliberate act of posting provocative or offensive content to cause psychological harm to the target individual. It is well established that trolling has contributed to the suicide of heavily targeted individuals in Australia (e.g., Charlotte Dawson well-known television presenter and model, 2014; 14 year old Amy “Dolly” Everett, 2018). “Dolly’s Law” was introduced under the NSW Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 to increase criminal sentencing consequences for perpetrators who send abusive messages or post hurtful messages online.

Bombing
Also known as spamming, bombing refers to the act of flooding the target individuals’ inbox or social media accounts with a large volume of messages or unwanted contact. The Commonwealth Spam Act 2003 was introduced to regulate commercial email and electronic communication use. Bombing behaviour towards an individual may be dealt with under stalking or family violence legislation in Tasmania, depending on the nature of the relationship between the perpetrator and target individual.

Revenge Porn
A well-known mechanism for causing psychological harm, particularly amongst teenagers and young adults, revenge porn is the act of sharing sexually explicit images or videos of the target individual without their consent, motivated by a desire for revenge. The intention of the act is to cause humiliation for the target individual. Progression in Commonwealth legislation to respond to this issue is evidenced by the Online Safety Act 2021. This Act increases the power of the E-Safety Commissioner to seek the removal of intimate images and videos posted online, and enhances the online safety expectations for online service providers.

Legal Implications

Tasmanian legislation is doing well to capture these forms of online harassment as criminal acts, and examples of these types of behaviours can be analysed in proceedings across jurisdictions including criminal law, family law, industrial relations, personal injury, and commercial law. The acknowledgement of stalking under the Criminal Code Act 1924 and the recognition of emotional abuse under the Family Violence Act 2004 are examples of where these patterns of behaviour may be prosecuted.

Tips for Target Individuals

Individuals that find themselves the target of these behaviours may feel uncertain about how to respond, and what legal avenues are available to them. The avenues may be determined by the nature of the relationship they have with the person perpetrating these behaviours towards them (e.g., intimate relationship, commercial relationship, acquaintance or stranger). The psychological harm resulting from these behaviours can be dire, and it is important to provide early intervention support for target individuals coming forward with these concerns.

It is helpful to encourage target individuals to keep records of the communications (e.g., screenshots, a log of harassment activity) which may later be required as evidence. In particularly distressing situations, it can be helpful for a third party to be enlisted to undertake this task to reduce the psychological burden on the target individual (e.g., a family member in a personal situation or a manager in the workplace in a commercial situation).

Target individuals can feel powerless and discouraged when advised to “just block them” or “don’t read the messages” or “just ignore it and they’ll go away”. It is important to acknowledge that by raising the issue, the target individual already feels affected by the behaviour and requires support and helpful intervention. It may be that in the early stages a threshold for prosecution may not yet be reached, and that further evidence requires collection before the matter can proceed. If this is the case, the target individual will require practical advice along the way to mitigate psychological harm.

Dr Georgina O’Donnell
Independent Forensic & Clinical Psychologist