Why it matters to put pressure on deplatforming people who ‘doxx’ other people

For those who don’t know, “doxxing” is the special term used for publishing confidential information of other people online with malicious intent. Although doxxing is an isolated act and not deemed illegal, it can contribute to other legal offenses like bullying, harassment, stalking, and violence. In the newest feud between two international content creators, YouTuber Jacksfilms accused popular streamer Sssniperwolf of doxxing him to her 34 million followers.

Here’s the story:

Jack Douglas, who goes by the name Jacksfilms on YouTube, is a content creator who had accused gaming streamer Sssniperwolf, with the real name Alia Shelesh, of stealing others’ content and using it for her own good by blocking the usernames of the original creators. The latter denied the accusations and said that 90% of her media uploads were her ideas.

Earlier this month, Douglas said that the lady streamer doxxed him. On October 14, he took to X (Twitter) and shared a screen grab of her IG story in which she asked her followers if she should visit him since he’s living a few minutes away from her shoot location.

“Sssniperwolf just doxxed me on her IG. Creepy, gross, violating. What you do is disgusting. You steal content AND stalk YouTubers,” he wrote.

Shelesh also posted a video outside his home, which the former denied as a form of doxxing. Douglas made a rebuttal and tweeted this:

https://x.com/jacksfilms/status/1713059331426640075?s=20

Following the incident, Shelesh’s content uploaded on her channel had been temporarily demonetized.

Why should we deplatform content creators and influencers such as SSSniperwolf for “doxxing”? “Doxxing” is an invasion of privacy that has the potential to cause violence and physical damage. What Shelesh did to Douglas was not only against the community guidelines of YouTube, but might be destructive if left unattended. With this, some people demanded YouTube to deplatform and demonetize her and be serious in making her accountable for what she did. On change.org, many petitions that were started by concerned online users have been getting support from people who are against “doxxing.” Here’s the most popular petition with thousands of signatures:

“This behavior is unacceptable and violates YouTube’s policies on harassment and cyberbullying. It sets a dangerous precedent if left unchecked which could encourage others to follow suit with similar harmful actions.

We are calling on YouTube to take immediate action by demonetizing SSSniperWolf’s channel until she rectifies her actions towards other creators and adheres strictly to the platform’s rules regarding content theft and privacy invasion.

Please sign this petition if you believe in protecting original content creators’ rights on YouTube from exploitation while ensuring safety within our digital communities.”

As of this writing, there are 25,615 signatures, and only a few more are needed before it reaches the goal of 35,000.

YouTube has since responded to this issue with what many content creators deem to be an insincere way of addressing things, with others pointing out the lukewarm response from the platform may be due to its consideration of SSSniperWolf’s audience size.

Doxxing is never cool, people.

 

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