On doxxing, the Slifkin Lag B’Omer post, and other related things.

This morning I woke up, checked my messages, and found that someone who thought they knew me decided to divulge personal details to others (which were erroneous btw) because they were mad about my position on the status of Lag B’Omer.

I’m treating this as a very serious incident and it’s already been reported to the mods…but it might go further than that. You see…….someone who is willing to personally identify people with details not mentioned in the commentary or personal statements is throwing out someone elses’ personal information on the internet in a public space. They could just as easily have slipped a name, an address, a shul where they know the person to attend, or some other detail that less stable individuals would exploit.

For all I know there is some poor person who could be harmed or die because this careless doxxer decided they were mad that someone doesn’t believe or hold what they believe. B”H it was stopped before it got to that level.

Everyone knows that lashon hara story about the Chofetz Chaim and the torn up pieces of paper. The one where the guy said something bad that turned out to be untrue and he was told he’d be forgiven when he could bring every scrap of paper back. I want you to consider how much worse it is when you give identifiable information of your own choice in a space where Neo-Nazis, Islamic terrorists, and other anti-Semites regularly hang out and collect intelligence on us. I want you to consider how much worse it is when you might get someone killed by mistake, something a step even more irretrievable than careless words that harm a reputation.

I don’t expect my opinions or thoughts or statements in posts and comments to be liked or lauded with praise. I do expect you to keep it civil per the rules. Even if you think “oh Utred you’re last on the list of civil personalities here”, there are mods and they do punish me when they catch something across the line.

I do expect you to have common sense. I do expect you to avoid putting myself and others in danger.