

Ask HN: Is doxing allowed? - QuantumChaos

In this thread: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8418885 sama posts some personal information about an alleged troll.  This information wasn&#x27;t enough identify that person, but it suggests that sama is sending a signal that mods will use this tactic against people they consider trolls.<p>In the same thread, another user (not a mod) states that &#x27;there is no &quot;doxing&quot; rule on HN&#x27;.<p>Will mods continue to reveal private information that only they know?  Under what circumstances will they do this?  Similarly, what rules will they impose on discussions.  Will they ban users who dox other users?<p>For reference, the comment that instigated these actions was<p><i>&gt;Can we have a publication named &quot;The Forgotten Male Programmers Who Created Modern Tech&quot; now?</i><p>which was a top level comment in the story <i>The Forgotten Female Programmers Who Created Modern Tech (npr.org)</i>
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zaroth
To which 'sama' replied; 'this is from a newly-created troll account from a
dorm in the netherlands. please go back to 4chan.'

I think the first question is, would you even call this doxing? It clearly
touched a nerve or crossed a line, I assume we won't see any more of it.

I'm content to wait and see, assuming there's no actual injury in this case.
Doxing is serious. Perhaps even worse considering the context? I don't read
into it that much.

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QuantumChaos
I never implied that sama's actions were doxing. I would however, like to a
clear statement from mods regarding actual doxing, whether by them or other
users.

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dang
Do we really need a rule for everything? How about just being decent and
treating others the way you would want to be treated?

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QuantumChaos
I don't see how this rule helps me figure out the meaning of sama's actions.
At least five people (including myself) in that thread interpreted his actions
as indicating that mods would use tactics like this (presumably escalating)
against people they perceived as trolls. However, I would be happy to hear
that this was not the case, and this action was a random occurrence.

Without any clarification, I think that this sort of thing has a chilling
effect on discussion. People will self-censor for fear of being subject to
harassment, either by mods or other users.

~~~
dang
Yes, it was a random occurrence.

