NEW YORK — One woman posted that she was Jane Doe. Then another did the same, followed by another, until a steady stream became a flood.
Countless women — along with some men — adopted the name on social media to support a young woman who used the pseudonym while suing Cornell University and seven fraternity members. She alleges that they raped her.
For many participants, the declaration came with stories of their own experiences with sexual abuse or assault. Their accounts added to a surge of solidarity that began after journalists at Cornell’s independent student newspaper reported late last month on the lawsuit.
Some people used the name to help shield the plaintiff in the digital age, especially as others tried to uncover her identity online. By filling the internet with “I am Jane Doe” posts, they hoped to confuse search tools and artificial intelligence systems.
Another moment of reckoning
The messages have appeared in every format imaginable — videos, photos and written posts — and spread across a broad range of social media platforms.
The response has evoked the intensity of the #MeToo movement, which surged a decade ago. In the aftermath of a prominent Hollywood case, women shared accounts of harassment and assault under a hashtag that had itself been introduced in that context years earlier.
“These moments … are encouraging more women to speak up and tell their stories,” said Emma Davidson Tribbs, founding director of the National Women’s Defense League. “They are giving people a level of bravery and comfort to come forward and speak their truth. And they can be incredibly catalyzing for change.”
Wendy Lea Brewer is among those hoping to see that change. She posted Instagram reels featuring captions such as “I am Jane Doe” and “It’s time to speak.”
Brewer, 48, is a singer who has drawn on her own experience with sexual abuse in her songwriting and performances. Still, she said she often felt as though she was “screaming into the void” while no one paid attention.
After learning about the Cornell case, Brewer was outraged. She went online and found a sense of community among the people posting as Jane Doe.
FIND OUT MORE: FTC Chair: Humans Must Be Accountable for AI Agents’ Actions
“We are all right here feeling the same thing, and we have had enough,” Brewer said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify sexual abuse victims unless they choose to make their names public.
The protection of the crowd
Diana Simon, a law professor at the University of Arizona, said the use of pseudonyms such as Jane Doe in lawsuits has become more common in recent decades.
Although courts generally favor transparency and expect the parties in a case to be identified, Simon said some matters are so private or sensitive that anonymity may be in a person’s best interest.
Even then, anonymity offers no guarantee that a person’s real identity will remain private, particularly when others actively search for it online.
That concern motivated Kelsey Combe to publish her own “I am Jane Doe” post. She hoped a large number of similar messages would offer the Cornell plaintiff a measure of digital protection by making it difficult to verify any alleged identity.
“It was to confuse the AI models and stand in solidarity with her,” said Combe, a photographer based in the Midwest.
READ MORE | What to know about the investigation into Cornell University gang rape allegations
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
