Amateur Sleuths Aim to Identify Charlottesville Marchers, but Sometimes Misfire
Source: New York Times
After a day of work at the Engineering Research Center at the University of Arkansas, Kyle Quinn had a pleasant Friday night in Bentonville with his wife and a colleague. They explored an art exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and dined at an upscale restaurant.
Then on Saturday, he discovered that social media sleuths had incorrectly identified him as a participant in a white nationalist rally some 1,100 miles away in Charlottesville, Va. Overnight, thousands of strangers across the country had been working together to share photographs of the men bearing Tiki torches on the University of Virginia campus. They wanted to name and shame them to their employers, friends and neighbors. In a few cases, they succeeded.
But Mr. Quinns experience showed the risks.
A man at the rally had been photographed wearing an Arkansas Engineering shirt, and the amateur investigators found a photo of Mr. Quinn that looked somewhat similar. They were both bearded and had similar builds.
Read more: Https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/charlottesville-doxxing.html?referer=https://t.co/9yNi8PbguK?amp=1
When everyone was bein enthusiastic about iuting the attendees this weekend, this was the first thing that came to my mind.
mucifer
(23,565 posts)Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)At least that has always been my experience.
rpannier
(24,338 posts)As noted before me, your comment was sensible and was making their Outfest 2017 less fun
We've seen this before with Reddit and the Boston Bombing.
rpannier
(24,338 posts)What if you are wrong and identify the wrong person?
sinkingfeeling
(51,473 posts)LisaM
(27,830 posts)There's a good reasons newscasters and attorneys use words like "alleged".
Jake Stern
(3,145 posts)It filled people with smug righteousness when the subscribers of Ashley Madison were doxxed until revelations emerged that the leak outed LGBT living in places where they could be murdered who used the site to discreetly meet.
Not to mention the internet avengers who target the children of a mark by putting their school info out and who publish the names, address and numbers of friends and family.
This just reinforces that opposition.
WhiteTara
(29,722 posts)look alike!
xor
(1,204 posts)And even in cases in which they correctly identify the person it worries me. I'm not so much concerned with people identifying their social media profiles, but the idea of posting their addresses, families, phone numbers, and other such stuff doesn't sit easy with me. It's only going to lead to more people being hurt or killed. It also only encourages similar activities to continue on from all sides.
There has to be a better way to combat these people than something as risky and error prone as these tactics.
hexola
(4,835 posts)Thats the alternative isn't it?
snooper2
(30,151 posts)LOL