Anarchist Movement Time to Beef up Defense Against Far-Right Doxxing

Time to Beef up Defense

Against Far-Right Doxxing
By It's Going Down February 5, 2017

In the last several months, Neo-Nazis and those from within the so-called Alt-
Right have been attempting to release personal information of people within the
anarchist and anti-fascist movement. Today, Charles C Johnson
of WeSearcher (whos twitter account seems to be suspended)
and GotNews released information of 231 people that were mass arrested on
January 20th in Washington, DC. The information of those arrested includes
names, their hometown, and ages. With this in mind, even if you werent
arrested, its imperative that everyone follow the suggestions in this article to
protect themselves and those around them.

This also isnt the first time that the Alt-Right has attempted to doxx people. In
recent months, Alt-Right trolls have been using a variety of tricks to get private
information including slogging through social media, the use of websites such as
Family Tree, and even setting up fake anti-fascist social media accounts and
web pages as honey pots. The bad news is that many of the people they are
getting information on are new to our movements and are more likely to have
lax security. Also, the ability of the Alt-Right to harvest information through
online mediums like Facebook shows that we all need to tighten up the ship as
we move forward in the current era under Trump, as well as incorporate these
ethics into our daily routines.
 @realAlexBeck has been leading the charge in the
Alt-Right in doxxing antifa.

The good news is that by taking a series of simple steps on social media and
sending off a couple of opt-out requests to several websites, you can make
yourself much more anonymous.

By tightening up on basic security culture, we all get safer. From not only
government spying and surveillance which is so pervasive throughout this
society, but also against auxiliary far-Right forces which seek to strengthen the
State through attacking our movements.

Fighting the Facebook Monster

Facebook is a major place where information is harvested. One of the easiest
ways that the Alt-Right is collecting information is by looking at the guest lists
of various anarchist, anti-fascist, and radical events. By simply looking at who is
going on these lists and clicking on peoples profiles, those during surveillance
can easily get a good idea of who in a given area is possibly involved in
organizing. Through looking at various guest lists, Alt-Right trolls have
attempted to doxx various groups of anti-fascists and anarchists through using
this method, and while often this only exposes those who publicly support
revolutionary projects, ideas, and organizations, it still isnt something that we
want happening and more importantly, its something we can stop.
For those setting up Facebook events, the best way around this is to simply set
the guest list to private. The way that you do this is once you have set up the
event page, you click EDIT, and then go to the very bottom of the form and in
the three boxes on the bottom, you click MAKE GUEST LIST PRIVATE. This can
only be done on a desktop or laptop. Keep in mind that when people search the
event, or it is posted in a persons feed or is shared, you can still see how many
people are going.

Setting Facebook events to private is horribly important and literally takes only
several seconds. As a general rule as well, when the event is over, delete it.
Remember that after every anti-fascist event that has had an open Facebook
event, fascists have begun to doxx people using the information that is open for
all to see. Lets make it a habit to set these events to a private guest list and
stop our enemies from getting an easy snapshot of who is who.

Also, if you must use Facebook, you may want to consider having a private one
and one for business. Remember that everything you say on Facebook is just
like a courtroom, what you say is recorded, can be obtained by the government
at anytime, and everything you share, post, or like is searchable.

Family Tree and White Pages

There are several websites online that list peoples possible addresses.
Sometimes these websites will show false information, sometimes old
information, and sometimes it will be dead on.

The bad news is that if someone has your name and an idea of where you might
be located, it might be possible for them to find out where you live. The good
news is that all of these websites have a way to get your information off of
them within a few day.
 List from Alt-Right messageboard showing the various ways
that someone can look you up.

Now days, many peoples first go to website to find a possible address is Family
Tree. To opt out, simply go here and follow the process. You might want to see
what information they have on you already before hand just to get an idea. In
order to opt out of White Pages, check out this how to youtube video because it
can take a few steps.

While these two sites are a good place to start, or course theres more to
do. Heres a list of other ideas and be sure to do your own research about going
above and beyond.
Honey Pots
In recent weeks, Alt-Right trolls have created a series of honey pots which
they have used to collect information from people who are looking to get
involved in anti-fascism and the anarchist movement.

This gathering is done largely in two ways, the first is through the creation of
Facebook and twitter accounts that are designed to build up a list of followers
that the account can then get information from. The other is through the
creation of fake websites that encourage people to sign up and give personal
information, (see the tweet below).

New York City Antifa @NYCAntifa

Warning about fake website and Twitter acct, run by fash
3:46 PM - Feb 3, 2017
View image on Twitter
This website shown in the tweet above was created by the Alt-Right troll who
used his website to gather information on people and then released the
information. While this process doesnt necessarily divide passive supporters
from active organizers, is does potentially scare some people away from
wanting to get involved in anti-fascism and the anarchist movement.

In general, be potentially wary of new antifa and anarchist social media

accounts that are brand new and in general simply repost information 24/7 as
opposed to reporting what is happening in their area or generating original
content. Also, look to see if they are followed back by other respected accounts
(on twitter) as well as who actually follows them. If you start to see that they
are followed by people with Pepe the Frog memes on their account along with
red Trump hats, then something bad is probably going on.

Push-Back Against the Alt-Right

As long as people can collect public information on their enemies, theyll use it
against them. Dont make it easy for people that are dedicated to being online
trolls and attacking people, releasing their information, and harassing them.

Lock down all your social media accounts and make sure they are set to private,
and if you set up events, make sure that shit has a private guest list. Check out
all websites that have information and listings of potential private information.
Request that they take down any info that pertains to you. Also, do your
homework and be careful who and what you are following on social media. If
something seems off, it might be.

Lastly, remember that the best defense (on top of good, preemptive measures)
is great offense. Map out fascist groups in your area. If you run social media
accounts and notice that you are starting to get trolled by far-Right accounts,
block them but also make a note of them. Who do they follow, who follows
them? Are they connected to a group, podcast, or larger network?
This isnt a call to be paranoid, its a call to get smart and get real. If we give
our enemies an inch, theyll take a mile. Lets all make sure we stand strong
and together, and keep each other safe in the process.

It's Going Down https://itsgoingdown.org

Its Going Down is a digital community center from anarchist, anti-fascist, autonomous anti-capitalist
and anti-colonial movements. Our mission is to provide a resilient platform to publicize and promote
revolutionary theory and action.