Cyberbullies could soon face tougher penalties under a new bill proposed by State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), who introduced the legislation in the wake of the suicide of Amanda Cummings, a Staten Island teen who threw herself in front of a bus after bearing the brunt of a spate of online hate. "Tragically, we're seeing modern technology used as a weapon and our laws have not kept pace with that technology,” says Klein. "This legislation will give prosecutors the tools they need to treat cyberbullying as the crime it is and also send a message that this type of reckless and potentially deadly behavior will not be tolerated."
Klein's bill, a version of which was also introduced in the Assembly by Queens Democrat Bill Scarborough, would update the crime of Third Degree Stalking to include bullying of a youth by electronic communications. It would also add electronic communications to the means of which to commit the crime of Aggravated Harassment. Lastly, it would modernize the crime of First Degree Criminal Impersonation to include electronic communications. Third Degree Stalking and Aggravated Harassment are both currently Class A misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.
New York does not currently track any data about cyberbullying, and so the Independent Democratic Conference of New York state has also launched the New York Cyberbully Census. The anonymous survey is intended to help provide a comprehensive picture of the problem of cyberbullying in New York State and build support for cyberbullying legislation. "This is a new world where bullying, once confined to the school yard, now follows its victims wherever the Internet goes," says Senator Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/ Brooklyn). "Before there is another tragedy, we need to treat cyberbullying as the crime that it is."
