Amateur Sleuths Aim to Identify Charlottesville Marchers, but Sometimes Misfire

[brooklynite]

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. Quinn’s 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]

1. I commented that this could happen on one of the threads and got bashed.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. Make ANY sensible comment and SOMEBODY will bash you.

At least that has always been my experience.

[rpannier]

5. Because you were raining on their parade

As noted before me, your comment was sensible and was making their Outfest 2017 less fun

[Vermijelli]

10. Thank you

We've seen this before with Reddit and the Boston Bombing.

[rpannier]

3. People forget in the moment

What if you are wrong and identify the wrong person?

[sinkingfeeling]

4. I reported here that the U of A had released statement that it wasn't Kyle Quinn.

[LisaM]

6. Yeah - the callout culture makes me nervous, and this is one of the reasons.

There's a good reasons newscasters and attorneys use words like "alleged".

[Jake Stern]

7. This is why I oppose doxxing: too much risk of collateral damage

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]

8. Now you know. They all

look alike!

[xor]

9. Yeah, that was/is my concern too. We've seen it happen too many times.

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]

11. Would we prefer the guys who tried to kill Deandre walk free?

Thats the alternative isn't it?

[snooper2]

12. yes, it is either one or the other...that would be the logical conclusion

LOL

[RhodeIslandOne]

13. If you accuse the wrong guy, you could open the door for that n/m