What happens when a scammer succeeds in conning you out of thousands? Or when a photograph of you suddenly goes viral for all the wrong reasons? How about the conundrum of fan forums and how to get involved in football banter without it going wrong?
Dr Rebecca Whittington, an expert in online safety, answers all these questions and more.
Each episode features a guest with a real-life experience alongside expert voices in online harm and digital law. Together we unpick the human stories behind cyber nightmares and offer top tips on how to navigate online life.
So if you want to hear stories including how an unknown actress coped when she became a viral meme overnight, or how we discovered that hundreds of women had been targeted by a social media catfish with a fetish, or if you’d like top tips around spotting an online scam in the new digital age, subscribe now to Go Doxx Yourself.
Our first series of Go Doxx Yourself wraps up with a live episode, recorded at Leeds Digital Festival.
With the help of ‘School Of Pod’ founder and lecturer Darren Harper, Dr Rebecca Whittington unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares and helps listeners confidently navigate digital life.
They are joined by former Leeds United defender Bridie Hannon, who retired in April after 150 appearances for the football club.
Rebecca answers questions from the audience at Leeds Trinity University, and Darren is doxxed live.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
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17 Sept 2025
ChatGPT - an agony aunt or a friend from hell?
Vulnerable teenagers are at risk of being exposed to harmful information from ChatGPT, one of the most universally used AI chatbots.
That's according to a new report from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the CCDH, a charity with a mission to protect human rights and civil liberties online, joins Dr Rebecca Whittington to discuss their most recent report titled 'Fake Friend'.
The centre aims to deliver change through research into the source, spread and offline consequences of online harm that includes hateful content and disinformation.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
UK Support Lines
Samaritans (samaritans.org) - suicide and crisis helpline
To reach a helpline, call 116 123 for free, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Alternatively, you can send an email to jo@samaritans.org and receive a response in several days or you can organize a face-to-face chat with the organisation here.
BEAT (beateatingdisorders.org.uk) - eating disorder support and advice
To reach a helpline, use this link to find phone numbers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, 365 days a year, 9am – midnight during the week and 4pm – midnight on weekends. For 24-hour web chat support use this link.
Frank (talktofrank.com) - substance abuse helpline
To reach a helpline for confidential advice, call Frank on 0300 123 660, available 24/7. You can also text Frank a question to 82111 or send an email to frank@talktofrank.com. Alternatively, Frank offers a live chat service from 2pm to 6pm, 7 days a week.
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10 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Vertical thinking: in conversation with news influencer Sophia Smith Galer
Sophia Smith Galer is a digital innovator, content creator, journalist, author and consultant whose pioneering use of TikTok broke barriers in storytelling and changed the perceptions of how news could be consumed.
Sophia’s investigative reporting for the BBC and VICE News has won her awards around the globe and her videos on TikTok and Instagram have been viewed more than 180 million times.
In the last six months she launched her own app, Sophiana, which helps users with creating engaging and successful video content for online audiences.
In today’s episode we’ll be hearing from Sophia about how she has navigated her career, what advice she can give around managing a public online profile while maintaining a personal life and I’ll be putting some of your questions to her too.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
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3 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Eyes Everywhere All the Time: cyberstalking and me
"It was terrifying, and I was really constantly worried about what is this gonna escalate to?"
Those are the words from Charlotte Hooper, a victim of cyberstalking and now head of operations at the Cyber Helpline.
Whilst studying at university, Charlotte was told that her personal photos – just random selfies – had been shared on an adult website, some of which from when she was just 16.
Later, she found out that her cyberstalker, who had posted the images, lived just 20 minutes away from her.
Charlotte tells Dr Rebecca Whittington, online safety editor at Reach, about the impact of this online harassment, and the need for better legal protection and police training to support victims.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production, presented by Dr Rebecca Whittington and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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26 Aug 2025
Reality without consent
Dr Rebecca Whittington investigates the rise of AI-generated intimate images and how Love Island’s Georgia Harrison changed the law around revenge porn.
The online safety editor is joined by EssexLive journalist Ellis Whitehouse, who covered the trial of Stephen Bear. who was jailed for 21 months for sharing intimate video footage of himself with Georgia on his Only Fans account without her consent.
, a charity set up to help adults who have been the subject of intimate image abuse.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
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19 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Game for all? Online abuse in sport pushing top talent out of the spotlight
Abuse of athletes on social media is pushing sporting talent to reject top jobs out of fear for their mental and physical safety
In this episode of Go Doxx Yourself, host Dr Rebecca Whittington speaks to Sanjay Bhandari, chair of Kick it Out, and former Mirror Sport journalist Jacob Leeks, about the harrowing realities of online harassment in the sporting world.
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12 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Your image for sale: the insidious rise in nightlife voyeurism
Nightlife voyeurism is degrading for the young women being targeted whilst walking in public spaces in Manchester city centre, but as Go Doxx Yourself explores, it can be difficult to criminalise due to gaps in the law.
At times, footage posted on social platforms caught women in vulnerable situations, with clothing riding up or falling down – and some of the videos deliberately focused in slow motion on the chests and bottoms of the women in the frame.
In the episode, Nicole Wooton-Cane, who reported on the story for the Manchester Evening News talks about how the investigation was conducted.
Nicole is joined by Chara Bakalis, Associate Professor in Law at Oxford Brookes, who discusses the limitations of current criminal and civil law in relation to footage captured in public places.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
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6 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
"Mum, I Need Your Help": how to spot cyber scammers
There was nothing untoward when a son texted his mum to tell her he had a new number; after all, he was in the process updating his phone contract, so it all made sense.
When he texted again to ask for help with a payment, there were no initial suspicions as he was also in the process of moving house. It was only after approximately £7,000 had been transferred, that his mum realised she was the victim of a scam.
In this episode of Go Doxx Yourself, Dr Rebecca Whittington speaks to the mum who was cruelly conned out of money by someone posing as her child. The episode unpicks how easy it is to fall victim to fraud, especially when we live so much of our life online.
With expert advice from Charlotte Hooper, head of operations for The Cyber Helpline, the episode also hears about how common this kind of event can be and also provides tips and support for those who are targeted by scammers.
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30 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Case of the Atomic Catfish
An online catfish with a fetish has tricked potentially hundreds of women in their 20s and 30s into viewing explicit content by posing under a series of false or impersonation accounts.
Dr Rebecca Whittington, online safety editor at Reach, the UK and Ireland's biggest commercial publisher, speaks to a victim of the catfish, who admits to feeling humiliated and embarrassed by his actions.
There is also the viewpoint from a legal expert about the limitations of the criminal case against the "Atomic Catfish". Chara Bakalis, head of Oxford Brookes Law School, discusses how the new Online Safety Act could be potentially used against the fetishist.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production hosted by Dr Rebecca Whittington, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. It is available to listen to on Apple and Spotify. You can also find it on YouTube and Instagram.
If you have been the victim of online harm or cyber crime, you can seek support from the Cyber Helpline on www.thecyberhelpline.com
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23 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Sad Oompa Loompa: “Going viral dehumanised and almost killed me”
Kirsty Paterson was mocked and trolled globally when a picture of her dressed as an Oompa Loompa went viral online.
Within days, the 31-year-old actor and yoga instructor from Glasgow was forced to switch off her phone and flee to stay with a friend in Edinburgh after she received hundreds of phone calls and messages about the picture.
Even when seeking escapism by turning on the TV, Kirsty found her image was the butt of jokes and laughter from chat shows discussing the image, which had become an internet meme.
She tells her side of the story to the Go Doxx Yourself podcast, describing the misery of the online abuse, how other people were making money through merchandise and advertising without her consent, and how she has rebuilt her life since the viral moment.
Go Doxx Yourself is a Reach production, presented by Dr Rebecca Whittington and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
Photo: Kirsty Paterson in the recreation of the infamous ‘Oompa Loompa scene’. (Copyright: Kirsty Paterson)
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7 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Go Doxx Yourself - Trailer
What happens when a scammer succeeds in conning you out of thousands? Or when a photograph of you suddenly goes viral for all the wrong reasons? How about the conundrum of fan forums and how to get involved in football banter without it going wrong?
Join Dr Rebecca Whittington as she unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares and offer top tips on how to navigate online life.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Inside a recent episode
Go Doxx Yourself: Live at Leeds Digital Festival
Published 25 Sept 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] It's a big place. It is a big place. So then what I did was I put Darren Harper into 192, which for those of you in the room that are probably maybe 40 years or older, and you possibly used 192 before the internet was really good. And so basically that's where names and addresses are registered. It gathers information from the local authority. And so if you're on the open register, which you will be if you're registered for council tax, if you're registered to vote, you automatically go on to the open register unless you opt out of that. That information is then essentially taken from our local authority registers and put into places like 192, who then monetize it essentially. […]
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