Doxing and free speech

First, a definition:

Quote:

Doxing is a technique of tracing someone or gather[ing] information about an individual using sources on the internet. Its name is derived from “Documents” or “Docx”.

I've been following two stories about doxing over the last few days.

One is the story of Amanda Todd's suicide. She was a teenager who was stalked and bullied for years over the internet. After her suicide Anonymous tracked down the person who tormented her and outed him.
(full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218532/Amanda-Todd-Anonymous-names-man-drove-teen-kill-spreading-nude-pictures.html)


The other is the story of Violentacrez/ Michael Brutsch, a notorious troll who was outed by Adrian Chen of Gawker. (full story: http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web)

Following both stories I keep seeing the idea that outing these people somehow violates their right to free speech.

First I was kind of all "**** their free speech" because they were hiding behind internet monikers, saying things that they probably would never say in the context of their real lives.

And then I remembered Deepthroat and all the unnamed sources and whistle-blowers who rely on anonymity to speak freely, who I support.

But isn't outing someone also free speech?

Where do you draw the line?

Are internet trolls fair game for exposure?

Does doxing violate their right to free speech?

Does their right to free speech trump anyone else's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Could they be prosecuted under obscenity laws?

Tweet police? Texas Rangers’ probe draws questions
(Associated Press, October 15, 2012)

The Texas Rangers flash the baddest badge in the Lone Star State. They’re the top cops working the biggest crimes beneath iconic white cowboy hats. They’re the bodyguards for the governor.

All of which raises the question: Why are they investigating a Twitter prank poking fun at a small-town city council?

Since at least August, members of the state’s 150-man elite police force have been trying to get to the bottom of who’s behind parody Twitter accounts lampooning council members in what’s arguably the law-and-order headquarters of Texas: Huntsville, home to the nation’s busiest execution chamber.

The mock tweeters include one councilman’s moustache, which is publishing zingers that include, “(Coucilman) Keith (Olson) likes to abuse his powers like I like to abuse his face.” Another from the handle Laughable Loll cracked, “I shined my head extra special for tonight so the camera would reflect off of it.”

Not laughing is the local prosecutor. He says the tweets may run afoul of harassment laws and asked the Rangers to investigate. That’s an absurd explanation to one of the tweeters, who called it a waste of taxpayer dollars, and to constitutional experts who say the tweets are a cut-and-dry case of First Amendment rights.

“When I think of the Texas Rangers, I think of people who are committing felonies,” said Katie Newman, who says she admitted to creating one of the fake accounts while being interviewed by a Ranger. “It would strike me as odd that a Texas Ranger would be involved in a parody account of council members in little Huntsville, Texas.”

A spokesman for the Texas Rangers, in a brief statement responding to questions about why the police force would look into such tweets, said only that the Rangers work with district attorneys who request assistance.

“The amount of time spent on this inquiry is a matter of hours so far,” spokesman Tom Vinger wrote in an e-mail.

It doesn’t even warrant that much time, according to some legal experts.

David Anderson, a law professor and First Amendment expert at the University of Texas at Austin, said neither prosecutors nor the Rangers have “any business” investigating tweets if the content is simply parody or satire. He said that even a tweet implying that a council member committed domestic abuse — as one council member claims — would be a libel matter taken up in a civil lawsuit, not in criminal court.

“It’s ridiculous,” Anderson said.

Eight girls are facing charges in a bullying case at a high school in London, police in the southwestern Ontario city said.

The arrests were made as part of an investigation that revealed a student at the school had been the target of physical, emotional and cyber bullying, police said.

The eight suspects are each charged with criminal harassment and have been released from custody on a promise to appear in court.

But in the case of Violentacrez, he hadn't broken any laws. He was a troll. No doubt he was a vile troll but does he deserve to be doxed for it?