What we can VERIFY about New York’s doxxing laws

On May 30, former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records by a New York jury. Following the conviction, Trump supporters on social media were calling for the jurors to be doxxed in retaliation for delivering the guilty verdict. 

Revealing personal information without permission with the intent to cause harm is a practice known as doxxing. Often, people who dox others do so to harass, threaten, shame or exact some form of revenge. 

“When are the [forum] snoops going to dox the Trump jurors? Asking for a friend,” one user of a popular pro-Trump forum wrote. 

In New York, juror information, including names and biographical information, is often provided to both the prosecution and the defense to better inform each party during jury selection. In Trump’s case, his defense team and the prosecution had access to a juror’s information. 

In March, Judge Juan Merchan ordered the jurors’ names and addresses be concealed from the public for their safety. He also blocked reporters from publishing the jurors’ employment history. 

We looked into whether it’s a crime in New York to publish the jury’s personal information without their consent online. 

THE QUESTION

Does New York have a law against doxxing?

THE SOURCES

• NY Penal Law § 240.30
• The City University of New York
• Michael Bloch, a partner at New York-based law firm Bloch & White LLP
• Michael Dichio, a political science professor at the University of Utah
• 18 U.S.C. § 119 (2021)
• Interstate Doxxing Prevention Act
• Senate Bill S7646
• Spokesperson with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
• UC Berkeley Office of Ethics
• FBI public service announcement on doxxing released in April 2015

THE ANSWER

No, New York does not have a law against doxxing. The state does have harassment laws that cover electronic threats, which could include sharing personal information. 

WHAT WE FOUND

In the state of New York there are no laws that prohibit doxxing, or revealing the personal information of a person without their consent with an intent to harm or harass. But it is a crime to harass someone by computer or other electronic means, and doxxing could be considered a form of online harassment.

"There is, as yet, no explicit federal or New York State protection for doxxing victims. But doxxing that is driven by an intent to target individuals may trigger criminal conduct like stalking, harassment, identity theft, or incitement to violence. In some cases, existing laws against cyberharassment and digital abuse have been applied,” The City University of New York’s website says. 

In the Trump jury’s case, because the judge issued protective orders shielding the identity of a juror, a person attempting to release that information could be found in contempt of court, Michael Bloch, a partner at New York-based law firm Bloch & White LLP, told VERIFY. Criminal contempt of court in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor in New York. 

In 2022, then-New York Sen. Anna Kaplan sponsored legislation making it a crime to dox any individual in the state, but the bill hasn’t made it out of committee. 

There is a federal law that, although they don’t use the term doxxing, makes it a crime to make “restricted personal information” of jurors, witnesses, or any other officer of any federal court publicly available if it was done with an intent to threaten, intimidate or in an act of violence. 

“Restricted personal information” can include the social security number, home address, home phone number, cell phone number, personal email address or home fax number, the law says. The punishment for revealing this information for someone serving as a juror in federal court is up to five years in prison and a fine. 

The U.S. code protecting jurors doesn’t apply to state trials, Michael Dichio, a political science professor at the University of Utah, told VERIFY. 

The New York case is not the first time jurors in a trial involving the former president have reportedly been threatened or harassed online. After Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, in August 2023 people online revealed the personal information of the grand jury members who handed down the indictment.

In Georgia, a bill was introduced to make doxxing illegal as a form of stalking, but in February 2024 the bill was tabled.

A spokesperson with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that specializes in civil rights laws, told VERIFY someone could be charged with doxxing if they are located in a state that prohibits it, even if the target of the doxxing is located in a state where doxxing isn't illegal, but it would require jurisdictions to work together.

“A lot of state legislation specifically notes the ability to hold someone accountable in a state where any part of the doxing occurred or where the perpetrator or target resides. However, that state’s enforcement powers are limited to its own jurisdiction, and without the perpetrator entering the state, local law enforcement would need to seek the cooperation of the state in which the perpetrator resides in order to seek an arrest and extradition. This is unlikely to occur in misdemeanor cases, and is seen more frequently in situations involving felony charges,” the ADL spokesperson said in an email.

There are some steps you can take to protect yourself from doxxing. UC Berkeley Office of Ethics and a 2015 public service announcement from the FBI offers these tips:

•  Adjust your social media settings and advise family members to do the same:

  • Ensure that your profiles, usernames/handles are kept private.

  • Remove any addresses, places of work, and specific locations from your accounts.

  • Set your posts to “friends only."

  • Avoid discussing personal information that could be used against you, as well as anything that can identify your address, workplace or contact information.

• Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

  • If you must use public wi-fi, turn off the public network sharing functionality on your device.

• Use strong passwords or two-factor authentication on your personal email accounts.

• Vary usernames and passwords across platforms.

• Hide domain registration information from WHOIS (a database of all registered domain names on the web).

• Pay close attention to all work and personal emails, especially those containing attachments or links to other websites. Some links could be phishing attempts to receive or gather personal information.

• Routinely conduct online searches of your name to identify what public information is already available.