Friday, October 11, 2013

Legislation to stop cyber-bullying?



Legislation to stop cyber-bullying usually arises in response to a very bad thing happening, like a teen's suicide. Legislators then feel the need to get involved, and put a stop to it with a new law. The problem is, the laws -- while having very good intentions -- are written in an overbroad fashion and violate First Amendment rights. This article explains a recent law in Maryland. 

An even bigger problem with this law is that it will allow school officials the ability to interfere with user content. From the article:
Maryland school officials will be offered the chance to flag “questionable or prohibited” language. That is to say, they will flag speech that isn’t prohibited by the new law but which they deem “questionable.”

I can't foresee any problems with this, you? 

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