Twitter rarely enforces its rules against the left (Peter Fonda’s Twitter account is still active despite threats of sexual violence on the service), but the recent rash of doxxing by Luke O’Brien, a Huffington Post writer against a Twitter user, by Splinter against Stephen Miller, and by another alt-left figure against ICE employees, forced it to take action.

This belated intervention was necessary, particularly as Splinter had gone Full Gawker in publishing Miller’s cell phone number. But it also signals how the alt-left media, a group of extreme sites such as Splinter, The Intercept, the New Republic, and the Huffington Post, are turning to doxxing as a weapon against their political opponents.

Since the alt-left emerged from internet troll culture before going mainstream on sites like Gawker, the use of doxxing isn’t surprising. Neither is the mainstream media’s tactic acceptance of such tactics.

Or as the Columbia Journalism Review put it, “Ashley Feinberg trolls for all the right reasons”.

Feinberg, is an alum of the Gawker smear network which had trafficked in everything from false rape accusations to stolen sex tapes, Taylor Lorenz had doxxed Pamela Geller’s daughters for the Daily Beast.

The lesson of Splinter’s tactics is that you can dress up alt-left internet troll culture in the trappings of journalism, but the costume won’t hold up for very long. And the major media organizations, like Verizon and Univision, funding alt-left media doxxing, have to decide how far they’re willing to let them go.

On the alt-left, fake news is becoming doxx news.