Paper Number
ICIS2025-1171
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
A home address spreads rapidly across social media, followed by threats, harassment, and offline consequences such as swatting. This is doxing—the intentional public disclosure of personal information to harm an individual. Adopting an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective, this study investigates the role of online platforms (OPs) in facilitating the sociotechnical actor-networks that produce and sustain doxing incidents. Based on a qualitative single case study, we trace how OPs are enrolled into relations with other human and non-human actors, generating the social dynamics and consequences of doxing as an adversarial online practice. Our findings reveal that a wide range of OPs can be involved in doxing incidents, entangled in complex relations with other actors. Furthermore, our results provide a fresh perspective on actors’ roles in doxing. For practitioners, our findings emphasize the importance of recognizing key actors and their relations to anticipate risks, mitigate harm, and protect vulnerable users.
Recommended Citation
Stäcker, Daniel and Saha, Ria Prianka, "The Role of Online Platforms in Doxing: An Actor-Network Theory Perspective" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 3.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/ethical_is/ethical_is/3
The Role of Online Platforms in Doxing: An Actor-Network Theory Perspective
A home address spreads rapidly across social media, followed by threats, harassment, and offline consequences such as swatting. This is doxing—the intentional public disclosure of personal information to harm an individual. Adopting an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective, this study investigates the role of online platforms (OPs) in facilitating the sociotechnical actor-networks that produce and sustain doxing incidents. Based on a qualitative single case study, we trace how OPs are enrolled into relations with other human and non-human actors, generating the social dynamics and consequences of doxing as an adversarial online practice. Our findings reveal that a wide range of OPs can be involved in doxing incidents, entangled in complex relations with other actors. Furthermore, our results provide a fresh perspective on actors’ roles in doxing. For practitioners, our findings emphasize the importance of recognizing key actors and their relations to anticipate risks, mitigate harm, and protect vulnerable users.
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