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Orie Introduces
Legislation Addressing the Growing Problem
of Cyber
Identity Theft & Cyber Bullying
HARRISBURG -- Senator
Jane Clare Orie (R-McCandless) announced today the introduction of legislation
to address the growing problem of "cyber identity theft" and "cyber bullying."
"With the increased proliferation of 'blogging' sites on the internet, this
problem is becoming more and more prevalent in our communities," said Orie. "It
is vital that we update our state laws to address the capabilities of technology
and the inappropriate use of technology to harm others."
Senator Orie's
legislation to address the problems of "cyber-bullying" and "cyber identity
theft" will make these activities criminal offenses in Pennsylvania. In
addition, Orie's legislation will require school districts to adopt policies to
prohibit this conduct among school students. According to Orie, "Even though
this emerging problem is becoming more and more visible to adults in our
schools, schools are only beginning to develop curricula for teachers to address
this problem."
"In my
Senatorial District and throughout the Commonwealth, there have been numerous
instances of high school students copying published photos of other students,
and maliciously using the photos of these students on internet blogging sites
such as MySpace.com, Xanga.com, and others," she said. For example, an April
28, 2006 news article reported that Swissvale police planned to cite a juvenile
for harassment for being a cyber bully. In this particular case, the juvenile
posted a phony profile of another student on MySpace.com, saying the boy was
homosexual.
Photos of
children are widely available, in newspapers, yearbooks, catalogs, and
promotional materials published for special events, for legitimate reasons.
With the proliferation of blogging sites, some students are using these photos
in conjunction with misleading, deceptive, fraudulent, defamatory, or otherwise
derogatory statements about the students whose photos they have stolen. Often,
these unauthorized postings contain the name, phone numbers and home address of
the student being bullied. In some instances, the student's face is transposed
into an objectionable picture, leading the viewer of the blog site to conclude
that the student is doing something he or she is not.
"These actions
are serious, and it is important that there be serious consequences for those
who steal others' identities for the purpose of harassment, stalking, or
threatening another individual," Orie commented. "Under my legislation, theft
of a person's identity, unauthorized publication of the identity, and
cyber-bullying will be considered a criminal offense," she continued. "It is
incumbent that the General Assembly takes the necessary steps now to ensure that
state law keeps pace with new technology, and that state law protects our
children."
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