---
title: SB 27. Stalking; offense of doxxing; penalties; protective order; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb27
cite_as: SB 27, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb27
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb27.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb27/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69508
date: 2026-03-19
status: engrossed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 746
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb27.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 27
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-03-06
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
- John Albers
- Randy Robertson
- Ricky Williams
- Mike Hodges
- Ben Watson
- Kay Kirkpatrick
- Timothy Bearden
- Matt Brass
- Jason Anavitarte
- Blake Tillery
- Carden Summers
- Brian Strickland
- Sonya Halpern
- Brad Thomas
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB27/2025
upstream_id: 1943292
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- doxing
- stalking laws
- online privacy
- criminal penalties
- free speech
---
# SB 27. Stalking; offense of doxxing; penalties; protective order; provide
## Text
The House Committee on Judiciary, Non-Civil offers the following substitute to SB 27:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 3 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to invasion of privacy, so as to provide for the offenses of doxing and aggravated
doxing; to provide for penalties; to provide for definitions; to provide for construction; to
provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date and
applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Anti-Doxing Act."
SECTION 2.
Article 3 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
invasion of privacy, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"16-11-93.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Close relation' means a person's current spouse, parent, child, sibling, stepchild,
stepparent, grandparent, coworker, an individual in a dating relationship with such person
as defined in Code Section 19-13A-1, or any individual who lives in the same household
as such person.
(2) 'Mental anguish' means emotional distress as evidenced by fear, torment, or
apprehension of physical harm that results from the posting of a person's personally
identifiable information.
(3) 'Personally identifiable information' means information or combination of
information, whether publicly available or not, that is, or includes within it, a person's
residence or address, location, employer, prior legal name, social security number, phone
number, or likely future location based on such person's history of visiting such location.
Personally identifiable information does not include the display of a property address
provided on a real estate or mapping platform when the address is not displayed or
disclosed in connection with any information identifying the owner or occupant.
(4) 'Post' means to deliver, distribute, disseminate, or transmit to more than one person
through a social media platform, email, or text message, whether through audio, image,
text, or video.
(5) 'Significant economic injury' means reasonable financial costs or expenses incurred
by an alleged victim as a result of mental anguish proximately caused by the posting of
such alleged victim's personally identifiable information, including, but not limited to,
moving from an established residence, changing daily routines, changing routes or modes
of transportation to and from work, changing employment or work schedules, losing time
from employment, damage to personal or real property, or experiencing a monetary loss
of not less than $500.00.
(6) 'Social media platform' shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Section
50-29-20.
(7) 'Stalking' shall have the same meaning as provided in Article 7 of Chapter 5 of this
title.
(b)(1) A person commits the offense of doxing when he or she intentionally posts
personally identifiable information of a second individual, or of a person of a close
relation to such second individual, without such second individual's consent and does so
with reckless disregard as to whether the information in such post will cause a third party
who could read, receive, view, or watch the post, to cause such second individual, or a
person of a close relation to such second individual, to:
(A) Be placed in actual fear of stalking, serious bodily injury, or death, as a result
therefrom; or
(B) Suffer a significant economic injury or mental anguish as a result therefrom.
(2) A person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor by committing the offense of doxing
prohibited under paragraph (1) of this subsection, except that upon a second or
subsequent conviction for doxing, such person shall be guilty of a felony and punished
by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than two years, a fine of not less than
$5,000.00, or both.
(c)(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated doxing when he or she posts
personally identifiable information of a second individual, or of a person of a close
relation to such second individual, without such second individual's consent and does so
with the intent for such post to cause such second individual, or a person of a close
relation to such second individual, to:
(A) Be placed in actual fear of stalking, serious bodily injury, or death; or
(B) Suffer a significant economic injury or mental anguish;
from a third party who could read, receive, view, or watch such post.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, for a person to be guilty of the offense of aggravated
doxing, the second individual, or a person of a close relation to such second individual,
must have been placed in actual fear of stalking, serious bodily injury, or death, or
suffered a significant economic injury or mental anguish.
(3) A person shall be guilty of a felony by committing the offense of aggravated doxing
prohibited under paragraph (1) of this subsection and punished by imprisonment of not
less than two years nor more than five years, a fine of $5,000.00, or both. Upon a second
or subsequent conviction of aggravated doxing, a person shall be punished by
imprisonment for not less than five nor more than ten years, a fine of $10,000.00, or both.
(4) Any person who violates this subsection which results in the person whose
information was made public suffering serious bodily injury or death shall be punished
as a party to the crime as provided in Article 2 of Chapter 2 of this title.
(d) It shall not be an offense under this Code section for a person to:
(1) Provide another person's personally identifiable information in connection with the
reporting of criminal activity to an official, agent, or employee of a law enforcement
agency, protective services agency, criminal investigations agency, intelligence agency,
or homeland security agency of the State of Georgia or of the United States when the
person making the report reasonably believes it is true;
(2) Disseminate another person's personally identifiable information for the purpose of
or in connection with the reporting of conduct reasonably believed to be unlawful; or
(3) Provide another person's personally identifiable information in connection with
lawful and constitutionally protected activity as it pertains to speech, assembly, and
petition.
(e) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed in any manner to:
(1) Prevent, prohibit, limit, or restrict the freedom of expression that is protected under
the Georgia Constitution or the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
provided, however, that speech or conduct involving true threats or expressive activity
directed to provoke and likely to produce imminent lawless actions shall be prohibited,
as per this Code section;
(2) Conflict with the provisions of the federal Communication Decency Act, 47 U.S.C.
Section 230;
(3) Conflict with the provisions of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C.
Section 1983; or
(4) Prohibit any activity protected under the Constitution of the United States or the
Georgia Constitution.
(f) For purposes of determining jurisdiction, an offense shall be deemed to be committed
in this state if the post that constitutes such offense either originates in this state or is
received in this state.
(g) The offenses of doxing and aggravated doxing shall be considered to have been
committed in the county or counties where the:
(1) Defendant was located when he or she posted the personally identifiable information:
or
(2) Person resides whose personally identifiable information was posted."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025, and shall apply to all offenses committed
on or after such date.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would create new crimes of doxing and aggravated doxing, making it illegal to post someone's address, phone number, or other identifying information with intent or reckless disregard to cause fear or harm.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently has no specific crime for publicly posting someone's private identifying information, such as their home address, employer, or phone number, in a way meant to scare or harm them. This bill, called the Georgia Anti-Doxing Act, adds a new section to the state's invasion of privacy laws to fill that gap.
It creates two new crimes. Doxing applies when someone posts a person's personally identifiable information without consent and recklessly disregards whether it could cause fear of stalking, injury, or death, or cause serious economic harm or emotional distress. Aggravated doxing applies when someone does the same thing with actual intent to cause that harm, and the harm actually occurs. The bill sets penalties, exempts activity like reporting crimes to police or engaging in protected speech, and would take effect July 1, 2025, applying only to offenses committed after that date.
### What it does
- Creates a new misdemeanor crime of doxing for posting someone's personal information with reckless disregard that it may cause fear of stalking, injury, death, economic harm, or emotional distress.
- Makes a second or later doxing conviction a felony punishable by one to two years in prison and a fine of at least $5,000.
- Creates a separate felony crime of aggravated doxing for posting someone's information with actual intent to cause that harm, punishable by two to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
- Increases aggravated doxing penalties to five to ten years and a $10,000 fine for a second or later conviction, and applies party-to-a-crime liability if the victim suffers serious injury or death.
- Exempts reporting crimes to law enforcement, reporting suspected unlawful conduct, and constitutionally protected speech, assembly, or petition activity from prosecution.
- Sets the law to take effect July 1, 2025, applying only to offenses committed on or after that date.
### Who it affects
Georgians who post other people's personal information online or through text and email, potential victims of doxing including their close relatives, coworkers, or household members, law enforcement and prosecutors who would enforce the new crimes, and people reporting crimes or engaging in protected speech who are exempted from liability.
### Why it matters
People targeted with public posts of their home address, employer, or phone number, often meant to intimidate or harass them, would gain a specific criminal law to seek prosecution under, rather than relying on stalking or harassment statutes. Those who post such information, even without direct intent to harm, could face criminal charges.
### Key provisions
- Section 2 adds new Code Section 16-11-93, defining terms like close relation, personally identifiable information, mental anguish, and significant economic injury.
- Subsection (b) defines doxing as posting someone's identifying information with reckless disregard that it could cause fear of stalking, injury, death, economic harm, or emotional distress, punishable as a misdemeanor, escalating to a felony on repeat offenses.
- Subsection (c) defines aggravated doxing as posting the information with actual intent to cause such harm and requires the harm to actually occur, punishable by two to five years in prison and rising to five to ten years for repeat offenses.
- Subsection (d) exempts reporting to law enforcement, reporting suspected crimes, and lawful constitutionally protected activity from prosecution under this section.
- Subsection (e) clarifies the law does not restrict free speech protections except for true threats or speech likely to provoke imminent lawless action.
- Subsections (f) and (g) establish that jurisdiction and venue can be based on where the post originated, was received, or where the victim resides.
- Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applying only to offenses committed on or after that date.
## Status
- Status: Engrossed (2025-03-06)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-03-19)
- Sponsors: John Albers, Randy Robertson, Ricky Williams, Mike Hodges, Ben Watson, Kay Kirkpatrick, Timothy Bearden, Matt Brass, Jason Anavitarte, Blake Tillery, Carden Summers, Brian Strickland, Sonya Halpern, Brad Thomas
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69508
> The history, votes, and amendments (746 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb27.md?full=1