1ST AMENDMENT ON TRIALHostile bloggers facing fines, jail?Proposal 'comes close to making it federal offense to log onto Internet'
By Bob Unruh© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A new proposal in Congress is threatening fines and jail time for what it calls "cyberbullying" – communications that include e-mails and text messages that "cause substantial emotional distress."
The vague generalities are included in H.R. 1966 by California Democrat Linda Sanchez and about a dozen co-sponsors.
But it already is being condemned as unconstitutional, unrealistic and probably ineffectual.
At Wired.com, in a report labeled "Threat Level," writer David Kravets criticized the plan to demand "up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to 'coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress.'"
"Instead of prison, perhaps we should say gulag," he wrote.
Such limits never would pass First Amendment muster, "unless the U.S. Constitution was altered without us knowing," he wrote. "So Sanchez, and the 14 other lawmakers who signed on to the proposal are grandstanding to show the public they care about children and are opposed to cyberbullying."
The plan is labeled the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, after the 13-year-old Meier, whose suicide last year reportedly was prompted by a woman who utilized the MySpace social networking site to send the teen critical messages.
Speak out now against limits on your speech!
The defendant in the case, Lori Drew, was accused under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
"Sanchez's bill goes way beyond cyberbullying and comes close to making it a federal offense to log onto the Internet or use the telephone," Kravets wrote. "The methods of communication where hostile speech is banned include e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones and text messages."
"We can't say what we think of Sanchez's proposal," he said. "Doing so would clearly get us two years in solitary confinement."
Wrote a contributor to the Wired forum page, "If passed, this legislation could be easily abused with the effect of criminalizing all criticism. You probably [couldn't] even criticize the legislation itself because it would cause Sen. Sanchez emotional distress or possibly be considered a form of intimidation."
The bill, which has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, states, "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."
It states: "Cyberbullying can cause psychological harm, including depression; negatively impact academic performance, safety, and the well-being of children in school; force children to change schools; and in some cases lead to extreme violent behavior, including murder and suicide."
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1 comment:
I do not know the whole story or circumstances surrounding this story. Ms. Drew is accused of driving Meier to committing suicide. What I do know is that bullying is a common thing. I experienced it in school and it is something that some children take pleasure in doing until the school or the parent puts a stop to it. Words do have a profound effect on human beings-they can either harm or heal. But to try and "legislate" what people say I believe is not going to get to the the crux of the problem. This bullying problem, like so many others, is something that needs to be dealt with at home. Our kids seem to be lacking in the basic social skills these days such as courtesy, patience, tolerance, kindness, to name a few. These virtues are taught by parents and by example. Not by a group of self-appointed "regulators" who believe they have the "one size fits all" answer. I am saddened by Meier's death. I know that justice will extract the truth of what happened and a verdict will be rendered. But in the meantime let's leave the responsibility of raising our kids up to the parents not to the government.
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