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Lisa Nandy has pledged to enhance legal measures against “doxxing” following incidents where the personal information of lifeboat volunteers who assist in migrant rescues was shared online. As culture secretary, she emphasized the need to “tighten up the law” so that doxxing—defined as the publication of individuals’ home addresses—would be classed as a criminal offence. At present, such actions are only illegal if they are carried out with a clear intention to provoke fear, harm, or distress.
Earlier this week, Nandy held talks with representatives from social media companies to address the issue of online abuse related to doxxing. However, she criticized the social media platform X for failing to attend the meeting, branding the absence a “disgrace.” The discussions came after the RNLI’s chief executive publicly condemned both online and physical abuse directed at volunteers involved in migrant rescue operations across the English Channel. Tensions had escalated following protests linked to an incident where 120 people were brought to Portsmouth from France with assistance from the RNLI.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Nandy expressed her dismay that volunteers, along with police officers, social workers, and journalists, were being targeted through the publication of their names, photographs, and addresses online. She pointed out that social media platforms showed inconsistent approaches to handling doxxing content, noting that TikTok claimed it removes such posts automatically, whereas Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, did not take the same approach. She was particularly critical of the platform X for its failure to participate in the meeting, stating that it demonstrated a lack of regard for public safety and social responsibilities.
The government is determined to act decisively to ensure publishing people’s addresses online is explicitly recognized as an offence, with swift consequences for those responsible. A source close to Meta confirmed that the company removes content that shares or solicits personally identifiable information that could potentially result in physical harm. Presently, the Crown Prosecution Service handles doxxing cases under existing laws like malicious communications, especially when victims face threats or harassment. Additionally, the RNLI clarified that only a small fraction—109 out of 9,058 launches last year—were related to people in distress in the Channel. Their chief executive also highlighted that about 95% of small boats were intercepted by the UK Border Force. Beyond doxxing, Nandy criticized the slow pace of enforcing the Online Safety Act, urging Ofcom—the regulatory body—to speed up its efforts, noting that although two penalties have been issued under the Act, no fines have yet been collected
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