Australia to Outlaw Doxxing! Will This Prevent Palestinian Supporters from Harassing Jews Online?

Australia confirmed that it will soon outlaw doxxing after the latest incident involving Palestinian supporters leaking sensitive details of Jewish people.

The Australian government announced this effort to protect Jews after Nine Entertainment News reported that pro-Palestinian protesters leaked hundreds of Jews' names, professions, images, and social media accounts.

Australia To Outlaw Doxxing! Will This Prevent Palestinian Supporters From Harassing Jews Online? — (Photo: ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images) A woman uses a laptop on April 3, 2019, in Abidjan. - According to the figures of the platform of the fight against cybercrime (PLCC) of the national police, nearly one hundred crooks of the internet, were arrested in 2018 in Ivory Coast.

Just imagine being a Jew and getting your information leaked during the time of war. This could put your life and the lives of people you love at risk.

Australia To Outlaw Doxxing! Here's Why

According to Yahoo Finance's latest report, Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus explained what Australians can expect from the proposed laws.

He said that this new legislation, which hasn't been drafted yet, would allow the Australian government to issue take-down notices to social media platforms against doxxing.

If Facebook, X (formerly called Twitter), and other social media sites don't take down doxxing content, then they could face fines as part of Australia's intimidation strategy.

Before the anti-doxxing effort was announced, Palestinian supporters distributed a 900-page transcript they stole from a private WhatsApp group, which was created by Jewish musicians, artists, writers, and academics in 2023.

Aside from the transcript, they also shared a spreadsheet that contained names and other very sensitive details of around 600 Jews.

Pro-Palestinian Activists Defend Doxxing Practice

Clementine Ford, one of the pro-Palestine activists who shared links to the leaked personal information of Jews, defended their unacceptable practice.

"This chat demonstrated extremely organized moves to punish Palestinian activists and their allies," said the author via ABC News.

He claimed that what they did should not be considered doxxing. Doxxing or not, sharing personal details of Jews during the Israel-Hamas war can put innocent Jewish people's lives at risk.

After the information leakage, a five-year-old Jewish child received threats. Thankfully, the Australian police authorities immediately investigated this case to ensure the safety of the kid and other Jews.

"The increasing use of online platforms to harm people through practices like doxxing, the malicious release of their personal information without their permission, is a deeply disturbing development," explained Dreyfus.

If you want to learn more about the latest effort of the Australian government against pro-Palestine activists' doxxing practices, you can click here.