Numerous state lawmakers were threatened over President Donald Trump's congressional redistricting push that failed in Indiana last year. They are now moving to criminalize a harassment tactic called doxxing.
Doxxing is posting someone’s personally identifiable information to a social media platform with a harmful intent.
A committee heard brief testimony Wednesday after receiving the legislation from the Senate.
The bill would prohibit intentionally doxxing someone in order to place them in fear of harm to body or property — or encourage another person to do so. Senate Bill 140 would make the action a Class A misdemeanor. If the doxxing causes serious injury, catastrophic injury or death, the bill elevates the charge to a Level 5 or 6 felony.
Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville) authored the proposal. She told the committee she thought Sen. Greg Goode’s (R-Terre Haute) swatting incident was one of the worst examples from last year.
“He was taking a shower,” she said. “His wife and son were in the basement getting out Christmas decorations … and the police knocked in his front door, knocked it down because somebody had called and said he murdered his wife. And so you can imagine what could have happened in that particular case.”
Goode was swatted after Trump criticized him on social media over the failed redistricting push. False threats, such as of pipe bombs, aimed at other lawmakers were also reported to law enforcement, including Senators Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) and Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette).
Rep. Andrew Ireland (R-Indianapolis) asked Becker how doxxing compared with what happened last fall — swatting — which is different.
"It’s really if … there’s a threat made. And a lot of times it's very difficult to find the person that actually caused it. We understand that. But if they can, law enforcement would like to be able to track them down,” Becker said.
The National Association of Attorneys General said that doxxing and swatting — or reporting false emergencies to trigger an armed response from law enforcement — are closely related but different actions.
“Once considered fringe internet behaviors, doxxing and swatting have evolved into sophisticated, technology-enabled tools of harassment, coercion, and public endangerment. The growing accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and automated data scraping technologies has significantly intensified the scale, precision, and anonymity with which these attacks are carried out,” it said in a report last year.
The proposed legislation would require posting only one piece of personally identifiable information, paired with the intention, to qualify as doxxing.
It outlines eight types of personal information, including a person’s name, Social Security number, residential or property addresses, a previous legal name, a phone number, the name or address of an employer, and the name and address of a location the person often visited or is likely to visit.
Rep. Chris Jeter (R-Fishers) said he was worried about how broad the bill is, referring to the bill’s requirement that only one piece of personal information, like a person’s full name, was needed to qualify as doxxing.
“I just worry with bills like this that we’re cutting too deep, and that we could be very easily attributing to people actions of third parties that they don’t reasonably have any control over,” he added.
Only one person appeared for public testimony. Miriam Dant spoke in support of the bill on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that aims to end defamation against the Jewish people and tracks antisemitism and other forms of hate.
She said ADL’s 2024 survey on online hate and harassment showed that 56% of American adults experienced online hate and harassment, with 22% seeing extreme harassment, such as physical threats, doxxing or swatting.
“Hate and extremism are on the rise, and digital spaces are not immune,” she said.
The Senate unanimously passed the bill last month. The committee will continue to discuss the legislation and possible amendments before sending it to the full House.
Contact WFYI reporter Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.