Texas legislators are proposing a new “cyberbullying” bill that will strip online anonymity before legal proceedings even begin. It also allows schools and universities to act against students whose actions happen off campus.
The National Association of Social Workers in Texas (per TechDirt) warns that the proposed bill will jeopardize students’ safety by cutting back on counseling and other professional resources in favor of dumping the bullying problem in the lap of local law enforcement. In addition, the bill expands the authority of schools to a point where it violates personal freedom.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that defends the rights of online users, says that that the proposed legislation is attack against online anonymity. That’s because the legislation would provide aggrieved persons with the ability to unmask anyone’s anonymity so long as they have a charge against them—without any due process or court order.
The EFF writes:
The bill authorizes subpoenas to investigate potential legal claims arising from any undefined “injury” to a minor before a lawsuit is ever filed. This new process would threaten the First Amendment right to communicate anonymously on the Internet. This right is especially important for people who belong to unpopular groups or who express unpopular messages, who might otherwise stay silent rather than risk retaliation.
In the hypothetical above, suppose the second student anonymously blogged about the classroom comments of the first student, and concluded, “only a jerk would say this in class.” The first student might try to use the bill’s pre-suit subpoena process to unmask the anonymous blogger, based on the pretext of a highly dubious defamation claim. The risk of unmasking would silence many anonymous speakers.
Essentially, the minors the legislation intends to protect may receive the lion’s share of harm should their anonymous identities be unmasked, and inhibit them from participating in online speech—creating a chilling effect.
The EFF says that the bill affords too much power to school administrators and police officers employed by schools, and that its unclear language on “rights” would make it both easy to abuse and lead to unfair enforcement.
Given how widely abused the existing Title IX federal law is in colleges and universities, the ambiguity of the language in the proposed bill would undoubtedly see school administrators interpreting the law just as unreasonably and give them even more leeway to do so.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.