Texas Anti-Harassment Legislation Threatens Lawful Online Interaction
Texas Anti-Harassment Legislation Threatens Lawful Online Interaction
A new bill introduced in the Texas legislature seeks to criminalize cyber-bullying of children in educational settings. The bill, called “David’s Law” (named after a 16-year-old victim of cyber-bullying who killed himself – there were no charges filed against those accused) would give school district officials more power to discipline, expel, and expose the identities of online harassment suspects.
The bill aims to protect students from communications that infringe upon their rights, but it does not define those rights or how they might be violated. If a single email “infringes on the rights of the victim at school,” the sender could be disciplined. If that email results in the recipient’s suicide, the sender could be expelled.
The worst provision, however, is the unmasking of the sender if they are accused of harassment. The bill authorizes subpoenas to investigate injury claims before a lawsuit is filed. As a result, if it is determined that no injury took place, the sender is still stamped with the stigma of a harasser or cyber-bully.
Bullying on social media is on the rise and a cause for concern, but anti-harassment policies must be very limited in scope (and rights and remedies narrowly defined) so they do not jeopardize the First Amendment rights of those who engage in lawful interaction.
