Political Hacktivism: Doxing & the First Amendment
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POLITICAL HACKTIVISM:
DOXING & THE FIRST AMENDMENT
ALEXANDER J. LINDVALLt
The intensity and complexity of life . .. have rendered necessary
some retreat from the world .. . but modern enterprise and invention
have, through invasions [of] privacy, subjected [people] to mental pain
and distress, far greater than could be inflicted by mere bodily
injury.1
-Louis Brandeis (1890)
I. INTRODUCTION
On December 16, 2016, Tanya Gersh answered her phone-on the
other end, she heard nothing but gunshots.2 She hung up. Moments
later, her phone rang again. This is how we can keep the Holocaust
alive, the voice on the other end said.3 We can bury you without
touching you.4 Several days later, Gersh received a voicemail saying,
You are surprisingly easy to find on the Internet-and in real life.5
Gersh was caught in the eye of a neo-Nazi troll storm.6
These calls and messages marked the beginning of a months-long
harassment campaign orchestrated by the Daily Stormer, the world's
largest neo-Nazi website. This campaign began after Sherry Spen-
cer-the mother of the prominent neo-Nazi Richard Spencer-claimed
Gersh was spear heading a campaign against the Spencers' local
t Associate Attorney, Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, PLC, Phoenix, Arizona; J.D.,
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law-Arizona State University; B.A., magna cum
laude, Iowa State University. I would like to thank Professor James Weinstein for his
helpful comments and critiques to this article.
1. Samuel Warren & Louis Brandeis, The Right to Privacy, 4 HARv. L. REv. 193,
196 (1890).
2. Luke O'Brien, The Making of an American Nazi, THE ATLANTIC (Dec. 2017),
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/the-making-of-an-american-
nazi/544119/ [https://perma.cc/2W6J-T297].
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. Mallory Simon & Sara Sidner, An Avalanche of Hate: How a Montana Mom
Became the Target of a Neo-Nazi Troll Storm, CNN (July 11, 2017, 12:37 PM), https://
www.cnn.com/2017/07/10/us/avalanche-of-hate-daily-stormer-lawsuit/index.html
[https://perma.cc/XWE8-9CFNI.
6. Id. An internet troll, most commonly, is someone who intentionally antago-
nizes others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other
disruptive content. Definition of Troll, MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY, https://
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troll (last visited Sept. 30, 2019).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/creigh53&div=5&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Political Hacktivism: Doxing & the First Amendment
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