So today after a rather long day at work, I checked out Voat during my commute and noticed a bunch of posts and comments where people demanded that I take action and ban a user for threatening to doxx another Voat user.

First things first: I urge all Voat users to read this Computerworld article about doxxing. The article points out things you can do to stay protected and explains what doxxing is. This article can help you in the long run and the advice given in that article will help you more than any website owner/admin ever could. Period.

If you have been doxxed by another Voat user and would like your personal information removed from Voat, please send an email to [email protected] and provide screenshots and links to said information and I will do my best to remove it and ban the offenders.

I also urge you to contact your local police authority if you have received threats from other Voat users. The police will in turn contact us and we will offer our cooperation to the extent required by law.

Now, I have not received an official request to remove alleged personal information from Voat which was allegedly posted by this Voat user. Please be patient while I investigate this case. I will post an update later today once I piece together all information necessary to handle this case.

I would like to point out that over the course of the last 2 years, I have received several email requests to remove personal information from Voat and I have always complied with these requests.

My personal position on doxxing and harassment is that it is just wrong and I urge you to try and stay civil. I did not create Voat so that it can be used to harm other people. I cannot possibly offer this service and support it as much as I would want to because I have a full time job and Voat is a huge cost and a burden. Voat is also a platform which can be used for far greater things. I hope you will recognize the possibilities that Voat offers and cherish it and do everything you can to keep it alive. Voat has been under constant attack for far too long, and I am positive that many high ranking political figures would be happy to see Voat shut down.

Edit: I could not find any evidence of doxxing taking place in this particular case. A user did send a threat to doxx another user, but the actual doxxing never took place. As such, I have decided not to ban any Voat accounts in this case and PuttItOut supports my decision. Our intent is to give Voat users as much freedom as permitted by law, and to achieve this, a lawyer is currently working on creating a new Voat terms of use/guideline document which should serve as a definite guide on how we operate in the future. Please send an email to [email protected] if you are being harassed by other Voat users, and if you see anyone breaking the law, please report it to your local police department and also notify us by email.