Know Their ONLINE World

Attorney general has gotten behind strong and much-needed legislation.
February 24, 2008

Star Gazette , NY

In a perfect world, social Web sites would police the people who join them and bar sexual predators from preying on other Internet users, especially kids. However, that’s a matter of conscience for each site to act upon, and because morals are hard to enforce on Web site owners, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is trying to do the next best thing.

His support for legislation to ban sexual predators from using sites such as the wildly popular MySpace and Facebook is a critical step toward putting the ultimate responsibility for Internet use on the users themselves. The proposal would make New York the first state in the nation to ban sexual predators from Internet social sites, and it also would expand New York’s sex offender registry to include Internet information such as screen names and e-mail addresses.

The bill already is well on its way to approval, having unanimously passed the Senate on Feb. 12. Cuomo, a Democrat, now needs the Assembly, controlled by his own party, to go along with the measure. The Assembly, which can be notoriously slow in deliberating bills approved by the Republican-dominated Senate, should give this proposal a speedy OK so Gov. Spitzer can sign it into law quickly.

Cuomo deserves credit for pursuing this measure. It’s really the next and most forceful step in his attempt to make social Web sites a safer place for kids to frequent the Internet. Nearly one year ago, Cuomo recruited other state attorney generals to work with him and with MySpace to get the social networking site to provide law enforcement with the identities of registered sex offenders who MySpace had detected and removed from its site.

This past fall, Cuomo pressured Facebook to work with his office on a new method of protecting its users from sexually predatory users. The agreement with Facebook also forced the social networking site to shield members from obscene material and harassment, a move that came after investigators posed online as young teens. The solicitations that followed were enough to convince Facebook to cooperate.

As a result, Facebook and MySpace have helped lead the way in bringing about a degree of self-reform in the social network industry, but that’s only part of the job. The legislation Cuomo is pushing, called the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act — nicknamed e-STOP — puts the onus on users to obey the law, not use the Internet to sexually exploit children and, if they are registered sex offenders, to include Internet information with the state.

However, the law can only go so far, and parents and kids themselves have a responsibility to protect themselves on the Internet by not sharing personal information with strangers that could lead to them tracking down where a child might live. Kids also must use privacy settings to block unauthorized use of their accounts, and they should report all suspicious online behavior or messages they see, either to an adult or authorities.

Sitting at a computer keyboard may seem rather harmless, but with the wrong keystrokes, a child can make herself or himself a target for others. Cuomo’s law doesn’t remove all the risk of that happening, but it can certainly reduce it.

Arkansas: A 2007 law added cyberbullying to school anti-bullying policies and included provisions for school officials to take action against some off-campus activities. The law applies to electronic acts whether or not they originate on school property “if the electronic act is directed specifically at students or school personnel and is maliciously intended for the purpose of disrupting school, and has a high likelihood of succeeding in that purpose.”

Delaware: The School Bullying Prevention Act passed in 2007 allows school administrators to take action against “technology-related” bullying that takes place off school grounds “provided there is a sufficient school nexus.”

Idaho: A law passed in 2006 allows school officials to temporarily suspend students for disrupting school by bullying or harassing other students, including by using telephones or computers.

Iowa: 2007 law includes references to electronic communication and requires schools to create policies prohibiting harassment and bullying “in schools, on school property or at any school function or school-sponsored activity.”

Minnesota: A 2007 bill requires schools to create written policies “prohibiting intimidation and bullying of any student,” including the use of the Internet.

New Jersey: A 2007 bill added electronic communication to the definition of bullying in school policies. While the law refers to bullying in schools, new state guidelines say school administrators “may impose consequences for acts of harassment, intimidation or bullying that occur off school grounds, such as cyberbullying,” but only when those acts substantially disrupt school.

Oregon: State officials added cyberbullying in 2007 to a law that called for school districts to develop anti-bullying policies, establish procedures to report such behavior, and provide an outline of consequences. The law defines bullying as any act that “substantially interferes” with a student’s education and takes place “on or immediately adjacent to school grounds” or at school-sponsored activities.

South Carolina: The Safe School Climate Act, passed in 2006, required school districts to adopt policies to “prohibit harassment, intimidation or bullying at school.” Electronic communication was included in the definition of bullying.

Washington: A 2007 bill added electronic harassment to school district harassment prevention policies. It calls on school administrators to develop policies prohibiting bulling “via electronic means” but restricts the scope of the policy to actions that take place “while on school grounds and during the school day.”

States considering cyberbullying bills:

Maryland: State Del. Craig Rice proposed a bill to require schools to develop policies prohibiting bullying and cyberbullying after hearing from a high school student who said classmates harassed her after she came out as gay. The bill has a treatment component.

Missouri: Following the suicide of a 13-year-old-girl allegedly the victim of an Internet hoax, Gov. Matt Blunt created an Internet Harassment Task Force. In January, it proposed a law that would make it a crime to harass someone using an electronic device— from a class A misdemeanor to a class D felony. The task force also called for state education officials to consider computer ethics and etiquette classes and suggested legislation adding harassment as a mandatory reportable offense under current education statutes.

New York: At least two proposed laws deal with cyberbullying in the schools. They would amend education law by including electronic communication in the definition of harassment, creating procedures to investigate harassment, and establishing a statewide registry for bullying, cyberbullying and hazing complaints.

Rhode Island: State Sen. John Tassoni Jr. is sponsoring a bill that would add cyberbullying to school anti-harassment policies. It calls for repeat violators to be sent to family court, which would determine whether the offending student is to be considered delinquent. The bill does not include off-campus bullying.

Vermont: A bill has been proposed that would expand an existing anti-bullying law by allowing school officials to punish some off-campus bullying, including cyberbullying. School officials would be allowed to take action “if the acts have a direct or negative impact on a student’s academic performance or access to school services.” The bill also would make bullying and cyberbullying a crime punishable by a fine of up to $500.