Doxxing sentence a welcome deterrent
- Father of police officer was left to feel helpless, fragile and anxious about his safety after personal details were revealed online by former telecoms worker
The violence and chaos of last year’s social unrest prompted complaints about conduct and tactics from both sides. An egregious example was the cyber warfare weapon of doxxing, in which personal details of the victim are exposed for the purposes of intimidation or harassment.
Victims included senior government officials, police officers, their family members, protesters, journalists, and business and community figures.
A court has now punished the first person found guilty of doxxing during the anti-government protests. District Court Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che jailed former Hong Kong Telecom worker Chan King-hei, 33, for two years after he was found guilty of offences including doxxing the father of a police inspector.
This kind of gratuitous victimisation is abhorrent. The judge’s remarks and the father’s victim-impact statement reflect that.
Yiu said doxxing could have a serious psychological impact on police and distress innocent family members. He cited the father’s description of feeling helpless, fragile and anxious about his safety.