doxxed - and a bit freaked out

[LoafEater]

So ... yesterday I posted a (what I thought was) a pretty innocuous, mild comment on an article about a news report. The subject is discussed here on another thread.

This morning my boss calls me into her office and shows me an email from a weird looking gmail address with a screenshot of my fb page.
The email was complaining about my transphobic attitude, and how the trans students at the school work in and take care off cannot be safe around me.

Thankfully my boss was as cross about this as I was, but she obviously has to follow protocol and asked me to take my place of work of FB and to delete my post of possible. She replied to the sender with a generic "thanks very much, we will look into it" reply.

We had a long chat around the subject which ended with her suggesting we had a chat with our safeguarding lead in the NY about this when I told her about and she has asked me to get a copy of the transgender trend schools pack. So its all good and I'm not in any bother as I have a sensible boss, but it could have been very different.

I know this has been happening to lots of women, but I have barely put my head over the parapet and this happens. I feel a bit shaken.

Loaf

Solidarity. That's scary. Still shocking how many women can't see this is happening under their noses.

How awful. Scary times. Thank goodness that your boss is sensible.

Loaf I am so angry that this is happening. Thank god your boss is smart and did not over react. These people are despicable.

I hope your boss follows up the “thanks very much, we will look into it” message with a “we’ve looked into it and our staff member is not transphobic” response. The extremist reactions of anti-women activists appal me.

So yes, it’s shit. I know as many of us have to woman up as possible, but those who do are very courageous.

This makes me so angry.
These TRAs are always reporting everyone, to employers, to the police, where does it end? 😡

This is outrageous.

Noticed today this article in the guardian that mentioned “doxxing” as a method fighting fascists www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/19/how-the-world-has-fought-back-against-the-violent-far-right-and-started-winning
Can’t believe this would ever be condoned but Well that’s the left for ya I suppose...

Yes was about to post about the Guardian's approval of doxxing & ensuing violence

That must have been really frightening, but try to take comfort in the knowledge that you’ve got such a strong supportive boss and you’ve managed to get transgender trend introduced to her, and potentially the school, before the gaslighters get access to the children. This could turn out to be very very helpful to your school, in the long term. Gather up the wonderful resources, such as websites, from FWR and give it to her.

I post here regularly under my normal user name but tweet with my real name.

After commenting (very respectfully but critically citing my professional credentials and perspective) on a matter pertaining to transgender and safeguarding, the organisations I am associated with and their managers were bombarded with emails alleging I was transphobic and a danger to service users. I am also got parents of trans children "correcting" my professional knowledge.

I tweet about a whole range of issues and get into professional polite disagreements all the time, but never had my real life affected like that.

It is definitely cult like behaviour and very creepy (and entirely different to the transgender people I know in real life who are completely cool about differences of opinion) .

I think the lobbying organisations like Mermaids and Stonewall have to rethink their "no debate", "leap to calling people transphobic" antagonistic strategies because such harassing behaviour it encourages tends to escalate; and they will be held responsible for the consequences

OP

Glad that turned out okay - but it is so bloody creepy isn't it?

It's bad isn't it.

That's really frightening Without outing yourself have you any idea how you were identified?

Is it illegal to do this? Post someone else’s personal details online in order to intimidate them into not expressing their opinions? I think it should be illegal and would have presumed it was but based on that guardian article www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/19/how-the-world-has-fought-back-against-the-violent-far-right-and-started-winning I suspect it is not. If it is illegal report the guardian to the police. I suspect that the left are too immature to understand that every tactic they advocate using against their political opponents could in time be used against them. So they should be careful before advocating doing anything to anyone that they would not accept being done to themselves and think before potentially opening a Pandora’s box. In my opinion debate is the only proper way to challenge ones opponents,

They are insane

I'm angry for you.

Scumbags it's like a cult.

☕️ for you, hope you’re feeling better about it now and lucky your boss is not woke.

Solidarity! That's why I'm loathe to stick my head up. I work in the public sector and fear I'd be thrown under the bus if I spoke up.

I’m so glad that your boss is sensible and has listened to you. It must be awful for you.

Ive just double checked my FB to make sure I don’t have my workplace mentioned.

Horrible thing to happen, OP.

I was declared on Twitter to be a transphobe, and my organisation therefore transphobic and ‘unsafe’ (and tagged ant tweeted to as such) because from my personal account I ‘liked’ one post that simply reported an academic appointment, and I followed one particular account (amongst many of diverse outlooks).

An ‘investigation’ was conducted as a result. During which it was suggested that no employee should ever tweet or engage with tweets of any political agenda from their personal social media. Thankfully the ridiculousness of this sank in, but shrinking in the face of these idealogical despots is a more common response than standing up for free speech.

I think it’s really good practice to avoid any mention of the organisation you work for on social media. I also have a policy of not being Facebook friends with any current colleagues. That way at least if the fuckers do track you down and doxx you you can show that you’ve absolutely kept a professional division between work and private lives, and done nothing that can reflect on the organisation.

It is frustrating that you cannot do something perfectly legal from your own social media when you are a pleb like me. It must be very frustrating when it overlaps with your professional interests, when it is something you should have a professional interest in. I know someone IRl who is doing this and I worry for her but I know there are a lot of good people who will back her to the hilt. As will I.

Yes lessons learned here for me for sure re online privacy. The person emailing my boss signed off with a female name (no surmane), and even my boss said 'bet thats a big hairy bloke'!

These tactics used to be the province of far right thugs like Redwatch:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwatch