AUSTIN, Texas – Texas lawmakers approved a measure that makes it a crime to impersonate someone else online, Media Online Daily reports. The bill’s aim is to stop cyberbullying. The law awaits the signature of Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Under the “online harassment” law, people who post fake profiles on social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, with the intent to “harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten” other people would be charged with a felony. Commercial social networking sites were defined broadly under the statue in order to encompass many possibilities, such as sites that let users register to converse with others or construct Web profiles or pages. E-mail programs and message boards were not included in the definition.
The legislation addresses the concerns of many, with more and more phony profiles coming to light, especially with fake Twitter accounts. For example, last week, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa filed a lawsuit over a parody account.
Internet law experts are not in agreement as to whether the Texas law could be upheld in court, given that it only addresses social networking sites and that it outlaws what might be free speech. “The whole social networking exceptionalism is ridiculous,” said Internet law expert Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. “There’s no way to distinguish social networking sites from other sites.”
Across the nation, other lawmakers are proposing new laws that address the problem of cyberbullying on social networking sites after the suicide of a 13-year-old girl. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) has sponsored a national bill seeking to impose penalties for cyberbullying.
For more on social networking, see the May 2009 NACS Magazine cover story, “World Wide Networking.”