Beyond Privacy: Understanding and Mitigating Doxing in the Digital Environment

Abstract

The proliferation of social media has transformed digital communication, offering unprecedented connectivity while also exposing individuals to privacy risks like doxing—the malicious disclosure of private information. This study investigates doxing through the lenses of digital ethics and cyber safety, seeking to develop effective mitigation strategies. Among the various countermeasures to online doxing, including technical solutions, legal reforms, and educational initiatives, this study focuses on technical solutions by leveraging transform-based models such as BERT and RoBERTa to detect doxing activities in textual data. Our empirical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the transformer-based models in detecting online doxing behavior. Additionally, this study discusses the socio-ethical implications of doxing, taking into account the different stakeholders involved. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this study offers strategies to strengthen digital security and ethics, fostering a safer online environment.