Urgent condemnation of doxxing, other harassment and abuse via social media – Resources for all impacted students
Dear Students:
I write today with urgent concerns about online harassment and discrimination among campus community members, as well as the rise in the circulation of campus community members' information beyond campus. Several social media posts have personally identified students, staff, and faculty, circulated partial information or misinformation, and have led to grotesque harassment and abuse by email and telephone and in person.
This sort of harassment and abuse, whether it is committed by a UCSB affiliate or someone off campus, is always unacceptable and it often disproportionately affects members of underrepresented communities (sometimes this behavior is called 'doxxing', which refers to a very specific form of online abuse).
Just as we stand against Islamophobia, antisemitism, and anti-Arab sentiments, we remain unwavering in our commitment to inclusion of all our campus communities, racial and ethnic, national origin (inclusive of documentation status), religious, (dis)ability, gender and sexual, and otherwise. This is an important time to identify and denounce anti-Palestinian, anti-Black, anti-Latinx, anti-Asian, and anti-Indigenous discrimination, including other forms of name-calling, doxxing, and physical threats.
Regardless of who commits online harassment and abuse, it all starts here. And each of us has the power to stop it in its tracks.
All of our students, staff, faculty, and communities deserve safety and security.
All members of our community, whether they are advocating for Israel or Palestine or otherwise, must be kept safe and must help keep the safety of others on our campus. We will continue to review and investigate reports shared with the University and hold campus affiliates accountable consistent with University policies.
