US bill against online bullying does not get a warm welcome

A bill to put two years on online bullying has been received rather coolly in a House committee. MPs feared the bill would violate the constitution.

In 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier committed suicide after being bullied by her neighbor through the social networking site Myspace. The state wanted to sue her for this, but it was difficult because there was no law against electronic harassment. The prosecutors then decided to prosecute her under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which is actually aimed at hackers. According to the prosecutors, she had violated Myspace’s terms of use by adopting a false name and illegally accessed the site. However, the judge did not agree to this, because the law would then be stretched much too far.

The state of Missouri has passed a bill against online bullying in response to the affair, and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez now wants a federal law to be passed to make cyberbullying a crime across the United States. However, the Crime, Terrorism and Security Commission was not entirely enthusiastic about the proposal. Several members feared that the law would violate the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, something Sanchez disputed.

Repubikein Louie Gohmert called the bill “a new chapter of overcriminalization”, although he acknowledged that the law could be used against bloggers who regularly attack him and his family. Gohmert went on to say that not all prosecutors would likely act wisely and that they would “bully the bully.”

The committee has not yet done anything formal with the bill, stating that written comments on it are welcome for another week, if reports wired.