Doxing Ban Passed Unanimously By Illinois Lawmakers

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Illinois lawmakers last week unanimously passed a bill aimed at preventing doxing, the practice of posting personal information about someone with the intention of harming or harassing them.

Sponsored in the state senate by Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) after being introduced in February by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), the Civil Liability for Doxing Act, or House Bill 2954, allows courts to award damages and issue injunctions against people who engage in doxing.

“It is absolutely critical for our laws to evolve with the changing nature of the cyber world,” Morrison said in a statement. “This legislation provides a necessary solution to the dangerous practice of doxing, by both helping victims and deterring future bad actors.”

The new legislation, which now awaits the signature of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, defines doxing as a situation when someone publishes personal information "with the intent that it is used to harm or harass the person whose information is published or reckless disregard that the person whose information is published would be reasonably likely to suffer death, bodily injury, or stalking."

The publication of personal information must cause the person to suffer "significant economic injury or emotional distress or to fear serious bodily injury or death of the person or a family or household member of the person or causes the person whose information is published to suffer a substantial life disruption," according to the text of the bill.

“This legislation ensures Illinois law keeps up with new and changing technologies that have become tools for crowdsourcing hate,” Gong-Gershowitz said following the bill's passage in the House.

“Doxing victims can experience harassment and stalking, they and their family members receive death threats, and some have even been assaulted," she said in a statement. "We have a responsibility to ensure the law protects them and gives them the tools necessary to hold their attackers accountable.”

The law defines personal information as any information that can be used to trace a person's identity, including social media accounts, email address and phone number, as well as "any other sensitive or private information that is linked or linkable to a specific identifiable person, such as gender identity, sexual orientation, or any sexually intimate visual depiction," according to the text of the bill.

Victims who testified in support of the bill included the owner of a McHenry County bakery who planned a drag brunch at her business, another discussed how the father of her children uses doxing as a form of abuse.

Under HB 2954, those determined to be victims of doxing can sue the person who published their information for damages and attorney's fees, and judges may also issue restraining orders to prevent continued disclosure of personal information.

Anyone who knowingly benefits from participation in a doxing-related venture can also be found liable under the bill, which passed the house 113-0 last month and the senate 55-0 on Wednesday.

The legislation offers some exemptions to its doxing definition.

It permits people to provide personal information to police or intelligence agencies, to report seemingly unlawful conduct and to provide personal information in connection with constitutionally protected activity — "speech, press, assembly, protest, and petition, as well as the provision of personally identifiable information to the press."

David Goldenberg, the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, thanked Gong-Gershowitz and Morrison for their leadership on the initiative, which he hopes will become law. The ADL has been working with Gong-Gershowitz and other sponsors on the bill since the middle of last year.

“This is a very promising next step in our efforts to give doxing victims a voice and hold people accountable for online hate and harassment,” Goldenberg said in a statement. “The General Assembly’s unanimous support for this bill sends a strong signal that Illinois will be no place for hate."