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Cyberbullying is now a crime in Michigan punishable by jail time
On Thursday, Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law a bill sponsored by Rep. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township that formally defines cyberbullying as a misdemeanor. Public Act 457 of 2018 will take effect in March.
The law states cyberbullying is a crime punishable by 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. A "pattern of repeated harassment" is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Meanwhile, cyberbullying that is found to cause a victim's death is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
According to Lucido's bill, "cyberbullying" is defined by "posting a message or statement in a public media forum about any other person" if both "the message or statement is intended to place a person in fear of bodily harm or death and expresses an intent to commit violence against the person" and "the message or statement is posted with the intent to communicate a threat or with knowledge that it will be viewed as a threat."
A "pattern of harassing or intimidating behavior" means a series of two or more separate noncontinuous acts of harassing or intimidating behavior. And a "public media forum" refers to "the internet or any other medium designed or intended to be used to convey information to other individuals, regardless of whether a membership or password is required to view the information."
ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5017 (other docs).
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Thursday January 03 2019, @12:12AM (2 children)
But if the Feds aren't choosing to enforce their law, Michigan can enforce theirs...unless it's challenged as being preempted.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 03 2019, @12:26AM (1 child)
The weird part is the language about causing the persons death could be interpreted as targeting swatting or suicides, but in neither case is it usually a result of a public threat against a person's life.
Swatting is the direct result of a false police report, by definition not a public threat against their life (even if it is likely to result in such), that one is easy. Suicide is much more complex, but all the cases I am aware of aren't people who killed themselves in response to a threat against their life, seems kind of like suspending kids as punishment for truancy to me...
Perhaps my perception is skewed, but I don't view cyber bullying as being in the form of threats to ones life, which are pretty well covered in existing laws where I come from. Seems to me like this law doesn't address what I would call cyber bullying at all, and doesn't provide much more than an alternate name for the existing criminal threat statutes.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 03 2019, @05:23PM
This is about protecting people from their feelings getting hurt. Hurt feelings might be the cause of their (self inflicted) death due to insufficiently thick skin and/or desire for sympathy.
Maybe a new government office could be created, sufficiently staffed and funded, to quantify the economic costs of hurt feelings in Michigan?
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