Cyberbullying Bill Introduced In US Congress

The beginning of April 2009, the so-called "Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act" (H.R. 1966), was re-introduced to the US Congress by Rep. Linda Sanchez and is supported by at least 14 other congressmen. The bill is named after Megan Meier, a teenager who committed suicide after allegedly being harassed on the popular social networking web site MySpace.

Anybody bullying others via electronic communications could possibly become a felon, according to the bill: "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."

Despite that, the bill seems to be written very vague, which could possibly lead to a situation in which every criticizing comment could be interpreted in that regard and is thus creating a lot of criticism itself.