Doxxing and Swatting Remain Ongoing Issues in Iowa: Growing Concerns for Public Safety

Ensuring the safety of children online is a major concern. Last year, the FBI issued several warnings about the dangers of doxing. More recently, the agency used X (formerly Twitter) to raise awareness about this escalating issue. While anyone can fall victim, the FBI highlighted specific groups that are more often targeted. Kids should also know this isn't a prank to pull on friends.

This has been a growing problem across the United States as a whole, affecting communities from coast to coast. While it may seem like a distant issue, it has the potential to happen anywhere, regardless of location or socio-economic status. No community is immune to the dangers associated with this problem, and it can manifest in urban, suburban, or rural areas alike. The ubiquity of technology and the increasing online presence of both adults and children have made these risks more widespread and harder to avoid, impacting individuals and families in various parts of the country.

Doxxing In Iowa

In short, doxxing is the result of someone leaking all your private info onto the internet for others to see. The full answer is as follows,

Doxxing (also spelled “doxing”) is the act of revealing someone’s personal information online. Doxxing is a form of online harassment that means publicly exposing someone’s real name, address, job, or other identifying info without a victim’s consent. 

Swatting In Iowa

In short, Swatting is using info gathered about you to make a fake police call claiming something bad is happening at the location you are currently at. The full answer is as follows,

Swatting is a criminal harassment act of deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency service response team to another person's address. This is triggered by false reporting of a serious law enforcement emergency, such as a bomb threat, murder, hostage situation, or a false report of a mental health emergency, such as reporting that a person is allegedly suicidal or homicidal and may or may not be armed, among other things

Remember, these things are illegal to do. If a child does this to a friend, or someone they don't like, they could be seeing charges. Stay safe and stay smart!