New Anti-Doxing and Online Harassment Policy

Dear Columbia Community, 

Columbia University is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and safe community, in person and in online spaces, for all our members. Our ability to engage in rigorous discourse and uphold the University’s values depends on us nurturing and maintaining a community built on mutual respect and responsibility. 

As our interactions are increasingly conducted online and via various platforms, it’s important that the University’s policies keep in step with those changes, to deter and make clear the unacceptable forms of online aggression that undermine our core values of open inquiry, integrity, and accountability.

Today, the University is implementing a new Anti-Doxing and Online Harassment Policy. This policy applies to all members of the Columbia University community, including students, faculty, staff, and participants in University-affiliated groups, programs or activities, regardless of location. We encourage you to read the new policy and FAQ in full.

For those unfamiliar, doxing (sometimes spelled “doxxing”) is electronic or physical publication of an individual’s personal information (email, phone, address, images) with the intent to intimidate, threaten or harasses the individual, and/or encourage additional harassment of that individual. Online harassment includes online communication that intimidates, threatens, targets, or otherwise causes harm to an individual or individuals. This may include, but is not limited to, harassing messages, threats, or insults; impersonation for malicious purposes; publicly sharing personal or private information; and encouraging harassment of others. 

We want to be clear that this conduct is not acceptable or tolerated at Columbia and conduct that meets these definitions will be referred to the appropriate office for review and discipline.

Columbia is committed to fostering a community where freedom of expression, open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and respectful debate are at the center of the student, faculty, and staff experience in our community. This policy update is a reflection of this priority and our ongoing work to advance our University’s mission and core values. 

Sincerely,

Angela V. Olinto
Provost
Professor of Astronomy and of Physics  

Melanie J. Bernitz
Interim Executive Vice President, University Life
Senior Vice President, Columbia Health
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (in the Center for Family and Community Medicine)