Cyber Harassment Bill — Members of the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing last week on legislation to make it a crime to use the Internet to harass a child, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
House Bill 1163 would define cyber harassment of a minor as a crime in which a person uses any form of electronic communication with the intent to harass a child or post information on a social media network about a child such as: statements or opinions about the child’s sexuality or sexual activity; disparaging statements or opinions about the child’s physical characteristics, mental or physical health or condition; or threats about the use of unlawful harm.
The bill would classify cyber harassment of a child as a third-degree misdemeanor and would allow a case to be prosecuted in the location where the victim of the harassment resides.