Debate Around Megan Meier Cyberbullying Bill Heats Up
The question used to be whether or not cyberbullying was a real problem. Now the question is whether it is a problem that the federal government should fix.
The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act (H.R. 1966) seeks to ammend title 18 of U.S. Code to specifically address the act of cyberbullying, defined in the bill as “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.”
The bill, which is currently in the House Judiciary Committee, has received a great deal of public outcry by free-speech advocates who feel that the definition is too broad and open to too much interpretation in individual cases. Many, such as Eugene Volokh in his column on the subject, feel that the bill could easily be used to limit political speech, which he feels could neatly fit the defined criteria of being “severe, repeated, and hostile, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.”
Linda Sanchez, the primary sponsor of the bill, said the bill’s language was written to allow “a judge and jury to determine whether there is significant evidence to prove that a person “cyberbullied” another,” but as many Volokh points out, the law could easily be used to make previously protected speech illegal, such as the repeated, hostile harassment of a politician who has renegged on campaign promises in order to damage the politician’s public support. Heck, about half of the 24-hour news cycle would technically be illegal, from Rush Limbaugh’s public hope that Obama fails as President, to Keith Olbermann’s continued, severe, and hostile harassment of Bill O’Reilly through the electronic means of his show.
Another salient point from Volokh is that while the bill is primarily intended to protect children, there is no language anywhere in the bill addressing the age of the victim. A grown man or woman would be as equally protected under the bill as a 12-year old child.
It will be interesting to see the debate progress around this issue, and one positive is the level of awareness it will give to the issue of cyberbullying. Reuters reports that it could affect as many as half of all U.S. teens, and we agree that something needs to be done about it. However, the question remains if this issue isn’t better handled at the family rather than federal level.
See Getting the Facts on Cyberbullying for more info and tips
Filed under: Internet Safety News
