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Indiana lawmakers hope to crack down on doxing after more than a dozen of their own became victims of threats amid a turbulent but unsuccessful redistricting campaign.
Doxing is the public release of someone’s personal information, without their consent, as a threat.
Senate Bill 140 would make that a Class A misdemeanor, or a felony if the doxing results in serious injury or death.
“Basically it’s what Sen. (Spencer) Deery and Sen. (Greg) Goode and Sen. (Jean) Leising and several others over the redistricting … experienced,” said bill author Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, told the Senate’s Corrections and Criminal Law committee Tuesday.
Targeted lawmakers included those for and against President Donald Trump’s failed push to eliminate Indiana’s two Democratic congressional seats in favor of a 9-0 Republican delegation, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Indiana Senate voted the maps down mid-December, after months of intense pressure and weeks of threats.
Those included swatting attempts at lawmakers’ homes — hoax reports to emergency services intended to trigger armed responses — plus bomb threats and more.
“I was threatened to have my family killed in front of me, whereafter I would be killed,” redistricting bill author Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, revealed mid-meeting last month.
Indiana State Police are leading an ongoing investigation into the intimidation against lawmakers.
While Tuesday’s discussion centered on lawmakers impacted during redistricting, everyday Americans are increasingly seeing their personal information spread across social media as retaliation for a wide range of disagreements.
Becker’s legislation would criminalize intentionally posting the personal information of a targeted person — or close connections — as a threat, in retaliation for something legal the targeted person did.
Personal information would include someone’s Social Security number, address or phone number, along with the name or address of their employer or places they frequent.
The definition for threat pulls from the state’s intimidation statute. Posts to social media would count, as would emails and other forms of electronic communication.
Tweaks to some of the bill’s definitions are expected.
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill’s definition of a “closely connected” person was too vague. It would include the target’s spouse, sibling, child, parent and grandparent, but also an unrelated person living in the same household, a dating partner or a coworker.
Committee Chair Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, assured her he would clarify the “broad” language in an amendment on Friday, before a vote on the bill.
“There’s a lot of benefit to people that disagree getting together and talking about it, and we do that all the time,” Freeman said later.
“How anybody is 45 years old, living in their mother’s basement and never having a relationship with anybody, and getting on a computer and doing this stuff? ” Freeman said. “… My God, can we be adults about this?”
He especially bemoaned the targeting of families with children.
The Class A misdemeanor created in Becker’s bill could rise to a Level 6 felony if a post results in serious bodily injury, or a Level 5 felony if it results in catastrophic injury or death.
Included are protections for those who make reports to law enforcement, prosecutors, and the Department of Child Services “reasonably and in good faith.”
The bill additionally appears to protect constituent communication and organizing, protecting those who engage in “lawful and constitutionally protected activity as it pertains to speech, assembly, and petition.”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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