Congress Looks To Muzzle Internet Over Cyber Bullying
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Legislation, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society
The biggest bullies in America, collective referred to as Congress, are tackling the issue of cyber bullying. Their solution? An all out assault on the first amendment via the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act:
‘(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
‘(b) As used in this section–
‘(1) the term ‘communication’ means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; and
‘(2) the term ‘electronic means’ means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.’.
What could possibly go wrong with such a broad piece of legislation? Some of the things I seek to do with this blog could hypothetically be described as: intimidating politicians into actually obeying their oath to defend the Constitution, harassing corrupt officials into complying with the law, and causing substantial emotional distress to those politicos who think that mortgaging our children’s future is a viable means to achieve reelection.
In other words, you can pry the keyboard from my cold, dead fingers.
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.