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posted by martyb on Wednesday January 02 2019, @11:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the why-can't-we-just-get-along? dept.

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: 2) by Virindi on Thursday January 03 2019, @08:01PM (3 children)

    by Virindi (3484) on Thursday January 03 2019, @08:01PM (#781653)

    It seemed reasonable to me to assume you were talking about the story at hand. If you are talking about something different, perhaps it would be helpful to be more specific?

    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 03 2019, @08:51PM (2 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 03 2019, @08:51PM (#781676) Homepage Journal

    The story is exactly what I'm talking about. Read it again and pay attention. Cyberbullying is defined but intimidation is not.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Virindi on Thursday January 03 2019, @11:18PM (1 child)

      by Virindi (3484) on Thursday January 03 2019, @11:18PM (#781763)

      Sure, let's look at the law then.

      Sec. 411x. (1) A person shall not cyberbully another person.

      (a) “Cyberbully” includes posting a message or statement in a public media forum about any other person if both of the following apply:

      (i) 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.

      So "cyberbully" requires the intent to cause fear of harm.

      Okay, let's ctrl-f for 'intimidation':

      (4) A person who violates subsection (1) in a manner that involves a continued pattern of harassing or intimidating behavior and by that violation causes serious injury to the victim is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both. As used in this subsection, “serious injury” means permanent, serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or serious impairment of a bodily function of a person.

      (5) A person who violates subsection (1) in a manner that involves a continued pattern of harassing or intimidating behavior and by that violation causes the death of the victim is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both.

      Both of these require a violation of (1), which once again, requires the intent to cause fear of harm. So "intimidating behavior" in this context is an add on to the main crime which increases its severity. But merely 'intimidating' someone without the threat of taking it beyond words is not a crime under this law, because (4) and (5) require a violation of (1).