Help

I'm being harassed or doxxed

First work out which of these three situations you're in. They need completely different responses, and treating a serious one as trivial — or the reverse — costs you.

Triage — read the row that matches

1. Insults and pile-ons

What it looks like: name-calling, mockery, burner accounts, a wave of replies. No real details about you. Nobody knows anything they couldn't see on your profile.

This is a troll, and it does fade. Attention is the entire payoff, so removing it works. Don't reply, don't screenshot-and-dunk, don't explain yourself. Block, mute, restrict replies, and put the phone down for a day. In a week it will be someone else's turn. This is the situation where "don't worry" is honest advice.

2. Your real details are posted

What it looks like: your legal name, home address, workplace, school, phone number, family members, or photos of where you live — published or threatened.

This is doxxing. Act today, not next week. Follow the steps below in order. It's frightening, and it's also survivable and common — most doxxing produces noise, not visitors. But you close the doors first and reassure yourself after.

3. Threats, or someone showing up

What it looks like: threats of violence, sexual threats, someone at your home or workplace, hints about calling the police on you (swatting), or threats against your children.

Stop reading privacy advice. Contact your local police, tell your employer or school so they aren't blindsided, and tell someone you trust in person. If swatting has been mentioned, some areas let you file a pre-emptive note with your address. This is beyond what a website should be handling for you — get real people involved now.

Why we don't open with “don't worry”. We can't see your situation from here. For row 1 it's true and worth hearing. For rows 2 and 3 it would be a lie, and lies cost people time they needed. Sort yourself honestly first — then take the reassurance you've earned.

If you've been doxxed — in this order

Document before you report. Screenshot the posts, profiles, usernames, and full URLs, with visible timestamps. Save them somewhere off the affected device. Reporting deletes the evidence you may need later for police or a lawyer.
Don't engage. No replies, no threats back, no bargaining. It confirms you're watching and it can be used against you.
Report to the platform under the specific rule — "posting private information" or "doxxing", not just "harassment". Naming the right policy gets faster action. Report the post, the account, and any account resharing it.
Secure your accounts. Unique passwords, 2FA off SMS, and log out all sessions. Work through the emergency steps if you haven't.
Cut location leaks. Turn off location sharing and history, remove geotags from recent posts, and check old photos for identifiable windows, streets, and license plates.
Warn people before someone else does. Employer, school, family. Harassers often contact them to cause damage, and the message lands very differently if they've heard from you first.
Freeze your credit and alert your bank if financial details or your address are exposed.
File broker removals. Whatever they found, others can find too. Use the templates in requesting deletion, and consider a removal service for the tedious long tail.
Hand the watching to someone else. Ask a trusted friend to monitor mentions for a week and pass on only what needs action. Reading it yourself all day is its own injury.

What actually tends to happen

Worth knowing, once you've done the steps above: the overwhelming majority of doxxing ends in unpleasant messages and nothing more. Most participants are anonymous accounts chasing a reaction from each other, not from you, and they lose interest within days. Publishing your address is usually intended to frighten you — the frightening is the point, and it is the whole of it.

That is not a reason to skip the checklist. It's a reason to do the checklist and then stop refreshing.

People who do this professionally

PEN America's Online Harassment Field Manual — the most thorough free playbook there is, including scripts for talking to employers and platforms.
Crash Override Network — resources written by people who were targeted themselves.
EFF Surveillance Self-Defense — technical hardening, by threat model.
The Hotline — if the person harassing you is a partner, ex-partner, or family member, this is the right place to start instead.

We're a triage page, not a support service. If your situation is escalating, the organisations above have trained people and we don't.