Pitfalls and traps are in overabundance with participation in the Dissident Right. It’s the nature of this world, sadly. Long gone are the halcyon days of shitposting on the internet and casual meme-making. This was never a game and the Left has always known this. For many rightwing dissidents, the spectre of doxxing and harrassment is always lurking in the background of their minds. Caution is always required.

Unfortunately, folks do get doxxed. It will continue to happen and will not be abated. Even if President Trump had antifa declared a terrorist organization, I doubt they would cease their online and real-world harassment of their political adversaries. They are ideologues and true believers. But, more importantly, they are a toxic mix of society’s marginalized outcasts, add a dash of mental illness for good measure and incredibly unscrupulous.

Trust me, they absolutely believe in what they’re doing. In their mind, you are the pinnacle of evil – you are the bully that hunted them in high school or the Hollywood villain from their favorite movie series. You’re Voldemort, Emperor Palpatine, and Biff Tannen all rolled up in one nice fictionalized package. You have been completely dehumanized in their minds. So, should something terrible happen to you, it didn’t really happen because you’re not a flesh and blood person, you are a cartoon apparition of online meanness.

They experience no moral quandary with cyberstalking your family, friends and co-workers. Lunatic fringe antifa doxxers don’t feel pity or remorse if you lose your job, your house, your marriage or your savings to put your kid through cancer treatment. They don’t, they really, truly don’t care what calamity falls upon you because your political opinions are “evil.” In the words of Sam Hyde, “Do not forget that these people want you broke, dead, your kids raped and brainwashed, and they think it’s funny.”

Take it from me, I was doxxed several years ago by a prolific antifa cyberstalker. Calling someone a retard online or posting transgressive memes puts a target on your back and you on an antifa “watch list.” They absolutely share your private information and collect and coalesce that information across closed social media chat groups and channels. Yes, they are friends or have connections with leftist journalists. Yes, those same journalists deny having any involvement with antifa cyberstalkers. And, yes, they are absolutely dedicated to destroying your life for wrongthink.

Here’s the thing though – you can diminish your chances of getting doxxed and, if you do get doxxed, you have two unsuspecting allies – the legal system and the criminal code. As I forced myself to find out (for my family’s wellbeing), online harassment and stalking is very much a crime. Just because someone disagrees with your political opinions, it does not give them the right to stalk and harass you online. In addition, collecting and sharing someone’s private information online is a crime in many states. Generally, the punishment for cyberstalking is a misdemeanor. But, star doxxers don’t stop doxxing when they get a scalp, they live for it and can’t stop. Repeated violations can end with a felony conviction, including prison time and restitution from the victim(s).

Below is my state’s legal language on cyberstalking, key verbiage bolded:

(a)(1) A person commits the offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person. For the purpose of this article, the terms “computer” and “computer network” shall have the same meanings as set out in Code Section 16-9-92; the term “contact” shall mean any communication including without being limited to communication in person, by telephone, by mail, by broadcast, by computer, by computer network, or by any other electronic device; and the place or places that contact by telephone, mail, broadcast, computer, computer network, or any other electronic device is deemed to occur shall be the place or places where such communication is received. For the purpose of this article, the term “place or places” shall include any public or private property occupied by the victim other than the residence of the defendant. For the purposes of this article, the term “harassing and intimidating” means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person’s safety or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior, and which serves no legitimate purpose. This Code section shall not be construed to require that an overt threat of death or bodily injury has been made. O.C.G.A. 16-5-90

No, labeling someone a fascist for sharing a meme is NOT considered a “legitimate purpose.” Stalking someone’s mother because they record an edgy podcast is also NOT a “legitimate purpose.” Storing pictures of a man’s family as part of a doxxing campaign is NOT a “legitimate purpose.” Sharing someone’s sensitive information and privacy, without their expressed consent, to a collection of radical anarcho-communists with a penchant for black masks, rioting and violence is NOT a “legitimate purpose.”

God helps those who help themselves. Therefore, mitigate the possibility of getting doxxed. Getting doxxed can happen to casual fans (as in my case) or hardcore content creators. Your level of involvement in Dissident Right politics does not shield you from antifa stalking. Comment on a Facebook thread monitored by antifa? You’re on a list. Retweet a funny, albeit politically incorrect, meme originating from a white nationalist? Your profile is screencapped and saved on someone’s hard drive. Follow a rightwing Facebook page and regularly share content on your timeline? Your information is being catalogued as you’re reading this.

Open source information is not your friend. Do not post your job anywhere on social media. If you even think about following thoughtcriminals on social media, delete your LinkedIn. Do not include your occupation on Facebook or Twitter. Don’t even include your hometown. Lock down your Facebook friends list. Set all privacy settings to the most restrictive setting possible. Do not use your “normie” account, ever. Always use a sock account. Firmly request your significant other to tighten up all social media (antifa will stalk their accounts – they don’t care your wife or girlfriend is a “non-combatant” in this Culture War). They’ll even cyberstalk your extended family too, but that’s a tricky conversation to explain. Again, these are people without any sense of decorum or decency.

Let’s say you do get doxxed, what next? Firstly, they will never stop stalking and harassing you – this isn’t a seasonal hobby for them. They will contact any known or suspected connection to you via Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter for the rest of your life. Antifa will even tag local news stations, repeatedly pester your employer(s), any social clubs (i.e. Knights of Columbus or Lions Club), and previous or current schools with an online presence. Any route available, however unseemly and inappropriate, they will take to paint you as a genocidal maniac worthy of being ostracized, fired and forced to live under a bridge. The normies that receive these messages will only see you doing or saying something offensive, they will not notice that the reporter (doxxer) is a bisexual, vegan, Satanist that worships Lenin, does hard drugs, and wants to abolish the state.

Next is the major, and critically important, step you must take after being doxxed – file a police report. You must absolutely be honest and truthful with your report to law enforcement. Filing a false police report is also a crime. However, leave no stone unturned. Provide links to the main doxxer’s posts about you and printed screenshots of the doxxer harassing you (hard copies) for their files. If the doxxer Fedposts, follows or connects with accounts that Fedpost (for instance, calling for Trump’s assassination, rioting, hacking, reasonable threats of violence against you, etc.), include that information as well. Also, include secondary and tertiary areas of information (like your family and friends’ information compromised or shared by the doxxer). More information, not less, is advantageous for you and the reporting officer. Ultimately, law enforcement (and through the local prosecutor’s office) will ascertain the IP address and other identifiable information, even through proxies, of the doxxer through requests, warrants, and/or subpoenas from the applicable social media platform(s) and other entities.

Finally, consult and hire an attorney. No, typically, they will not charge you Alan Dershowitz rates. Although, you will need to spend money to get through this ordeal. As an attorney, I needed to get my own attorney. In fact, speak with your attorney prior to filing the police report and be brutally honest with your attorney regarding your situation. A paper trail will be crucial in mapping out what happened, if it’s continuing, information on the doxxer/stalker and the victims. Your attorney will guide you through this process and provide the necessary pressure on the social media platform(s) that not only have alleged crime(s) been committed, but law enforcement has become involved and clearly a breach in their terms of service is at play.

Doxxing and cyberstalking is immoral. Neither the Left nor the Right should engage in this practice. As my doxxer found out (and myself, family, and friends), there are very real and hard consequences to engage in this practice. If you don’t like someone’s message, the answer isn’t to engage in criminality. Instead, make your own content and message.

Disagreeing with someone’s political opinion isn’t a crime, collecting information about them, sharing it across social media for the purposes of harassment and intimidation – well, that’s another story.

-By Sam Bowden

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. Please contact an attorney and the legal authorities if you reasonably believe you’re the victim of cybercrime.

Note: this article originally appeared here