Doxxing: A Scoping Review and Typology

Anderson, Briony; Wood, Mark A.

Abstract

This chapter examines the phenomenon of doxxing: the practice of publishing private, proprietary, or personally identifying information on the internet, usually with malicious intent. Undertaking a scoping review of research into doxxing, we develop a typology of this form of technology-facilitated violence (TFV) that expands understandings of doxxing, its forms and its harms, beyond a taciturn discussion of privacy and harassment online. Building on David M. Douglas's typology of doxxing, our typology considers two key dimensions of doxxing: the form of loss experienced by the victim and the perpetrator's motivation(s) for undertaking this form of TFV. Through examining the extant literature on doxxing, we identify seven mutually non-exclusive motivations for this form of TFV: extortion, silencing, retribution, controlling, reputation-building, unintentional, and doxxing in the public interest. We conclude by identifying future areas for interdisciplinary research into doxxing that brings criminology into conversation with the insights of media-focused disciplines.

Citation

Anderson, B., & Wood, M. A. (2021). Doxxing: A Scoping Review and Typology. In J. Bailey, A. Flynn, & N. Henry (Eds.), The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse (205-226). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-848-520211015

• Publication Date: Jun 4, 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2024
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 205-226
• Series Title: Emerald Studies In Digital Crime, Technology and Social Harms
• Book Title: The Emerald International Handbook of Technology-Facilitated Violence and Abuse
• ISBN: 9781839828492; 9781839828485
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-848-520211015
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2782748
• Additional Information: This chapter is Open Access at: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-848-520211015