Illinois Students Suspected of Cyberbullying Must Provide Social Media Passwords

derekmead writes: School districts in Illinois are telling parents that a new law may require school officials to demand the social media passwords of students if they are suspected in cyberbullying cases or are otherwise suspected of breaking school rules. The law (PDF), which went into effect on January 1, defines cyberbullying and makes harassment on Facebook, Twitter, or via other digital means a violation of the state's school code, even if the bullying happens outside of school hours. A letter sent out to parents in the Triad Community Unit School District #2, a district located just over the Missouri-Illinois line near St. Louis, that was obtained by Motherboard says that school officials can demand students give them their passwords.

Comments

Bullshit

[sexconker]

The law is blatantly unconstitutional.

Re:Bullshit

[terraformer]

The law is blatantly unconstitutional.

Actually, the law doesn't demand the password. The school districts are making it up because they don't know about or have police powers and are otherwise clueless. The real issue here is the law puts activity occurring outside of schools into the hands of school administrators.

PS: The constitutionality of demanding a password has never been finally tested, but this doesn't get us there either.

Re:Bullshit

[geekmux]

The law is blatantly unconstitutional.

I know it may have been a while since you've set foot on a school campus while under the age of 18, but you won't find much evidence of Constitutional Rights anywhere outside of the book they're ironically using to teach students about the Rights they refuse to acknowledge for students.

Hell at this point I'd fail the civics mid-term exam test on purpose. And then sue the school board for insisting I learn "facts" that clearly no longer exist in today's society.

The only correct answers:

[clonehappy]

"Don't know it, sorry."

or

"Fuck You."

Unfortunately, the authority worship preached to our children in the public schools ensures neither of the correct answers will probably be given. The children of people smart enough to have taught their children this (doctors, lawyers, professors, etc.) don't have their children in the public institutionalization facilities, anyway.

When they log into Facebook's server

[raymorris]

> Exactly what makes a school (or employer) subject to the Facebook TOS

When they log into Facebook (using the student's password), their use of Facebook's system is subject to Facebook's policies. There's a law about "unauthorized access to a secured computer system". You are only authorized to access Facebook's computer system in accordance with it's TOS. Any access outside of the TOS is unauthorized access. Not that school officials would actually be prosecuted in a situation like this, of course.

I just read that law. It doesn't say that.

[Anonymous Coward]

The word "password" is not in the text anywhere.

I saw nothing in it that gives the school district any authority whatsoever to do such a thing. It makes the bullying illegal, and gives the school the ability to support the victim. But it does not even mention giving school administrators access to private social media accounts of the accused.

It's just a bit long and I did skim in places, please feel free to correct me if you see it in there. But I don't see any provision that is even suggestive of what is being claimed in the aritcle.