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Proposed Legislation Would Outlaw "Cyberbullying" in US
physman_wiu writes "We all remember the recent incident of 13-year-old Megan Meier. Now legislation is set to be passed at least in Missouri (and possibly through Congress) that would make cyberbullying illegal. The new legislation (PDF) reads: 'Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.' Now, this seems like a great piece of legislation — until I get put in jail for some kid on WOW calling the Feds on me." Eugene Volokh is not impressed.
You're right, it doesn't. If this law was very, very specific about what constitutes online "harassment", then you might have a point, but even then it's probably going too far. Oh no, someone is mean to you on a forum! That is a far, FAR cry from someone following you around in the real world and harassing you. Now, if this person on the forum is someone you know in the real world, then things may well be a little hairier, but someone calling you names online from the other side of the country being made illegal? Sorry, but you don't have the right to not be offended or hear mean things. Grow a spine.
Actually, there's no mention whatsoever of forums in the article. According to the article, the point of this legislation is that it is specifically defining what constitutes "harassment", and that they are specifically targeting repeated harassment using the Internet, text messages, and other electronic devices.
So, this is actually not all that different from being followed around and harassed in the real world. In fact, it is being followed around and harassed in the real world, only the harassment is coming through electronic devices (mostly cell phones).
From TFA: "The problem with cyberbullying is that kids aren't even safe in their own home, because they're being harassed through the computer or cell phones 24/7 potentially".
Disclaimer: I haven't read the actual proposed legislation, and I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
I'm surprised you guys are still in there. :P
Come to Australia or Europe. Both are nice places.
Actually it was the employee of a parent of the friend of the child who committed suicide.
But that is frankly beside the point anyways. After reviewing as much of what happened in this case as is available to the general public, while what this woman did was sick, I no longer think it was the proximate cause of the girl committing suicide. It is very evident when you dig a little deeper into the story, that it was her own mother's reaction when Meghan tried to talk about what had happened that pushed her over the edge. She didn't get a nasty message and decide to hang herself. She got some nasty messages, tried to talk to her mom about it, her mom blew her off because she didn't like the language Meghan had used in her chatting, she cried out to her mom that she was supposed to be on her side, THEN went up to her room and immediately killed herself.
I still think the woman who perpetrated the hoax was a horrible horrible person. However, I feel Meghan's mother has to be held somewhat accountable. She knew her daughter suffered from depression, she saw her daughter was very upset. But rather than comfort her, she grew angry because Meghan had been talking naughty online. A decision I think she will regret to her dying day.
I swear, kids these days just don't have any backbone. One "bad word" and they go running and crying to mommy, grow up and get over it already.
People with depression tend to have parental relationships like that. When the parents are the emotionally needy, withholding ones, the child becomes hyper-sensitive to others.
A good book to read on the topic is The Drama of the Gifted child by Alice Miller.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
Read my comment here to see the links that you ignored.
Girl told she cannot read bible at school
Houston we have a problem, students want to read bibles at recess
How about that crow you just ate? Was it tasty?
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No it doesn't.
You are pushing a blatantly fraudulent analogy between criminal prosecution for harassment and the truth as a defense in a civil suit for libel.
The bully is deep into games of power and submission. He wants something from his victim - if only a show of pain. This isn't speech, it is a merciless physical and pyschological assault.
Remember, lawyers won't wait until you've clearly crossed the line before they drag you into court, they'll sue you at the drop of a hat and regardless of guilt
There is no finding of guilt or innocence in a civil trial.
The issues are framed narrowly in terns of legal and financial responsibility.
Criminal prosecutions are initiated by the state in the name of the people of the state.
There is a moral imperative in the punishment of crime. But there is also the simple desire to maintain the public peace and order.
Free speech in the americam context has its deepest roots in a sense of what is mature and appropriate behavior in the civil life of a Republic.
You confront the issues openly and honestly.
You do not defame your opponent. You do not shout him down. You do not send in thugs to brutalize his supporters. You abandon the podium gracefully so that others can have their say,
He didn't threaten to beat anyone up. Read before you flame.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
This is an awful idea and anybody who supports it has not thought it through.
What happened with Mega Meier is extremely sad and disturbing, but as disgustingly sickening as the woman who did this was, she is not responsible for Meier's suicide.
Regardless of how awful someone is to someone else on a verbal level, the cannot force them to hurt themselves.
This girl was depressed and made the choice to take her own life. It's ver sad, but it happens every day. Had it not been this situation it likely would have been something else, and the next time she really got hurt the results would have been the same.
The charges filed against this woman in LA are ridiculous - they act as though violating Myspace's TOS is breaking the law.
You cannot legislate something like this because where do you draw the line? What is free speech and what is harrassment? What is a joke and what isn't a joke? Even if this sort of legislation passed can you image trying to enforce it and the people who would abuse such a law?
To break it down:
As sad as this case is, you cannot legislate something like this away. You cannot legislate cyberbullying away any more than you can legislate schoolyard bullying away. Bullies are a fact of life - and the only thing that can be done to to teach children how to handle this sort of thing - how to handle bullies and to really look out for your kids when they are at this sensitive age - and if they cannot deal with these sort of things do what you need to to get them help.
Eh, what this law really wants to prevent, albeit in an assinine way, is adults making children fall in love with phoney people online, and then breaking their hearts to cause them to commit suicide. Which, is a shitty thing that happened in Missouri (or Mississippi, one of the "useless" states at any rate), and to which this law is a reaction.
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