Cyber-bullies in NZ could see two years jail time
New Zealand recently passed a law that could see cyber-bullies face up to two years jail time. And the if bullying leads to suicide, the offenders will see up to three years in jail.
According to tech website engadget: "The legislation effectively prohibits sending messages to people that are racist, sexist, critical of their religion, sexuality or disability. The rest for determining harm will be if these communications were designed to cause "serious emotional distress'".
There will no doubt be some teething problems, especially about what is considered abuse or hate speech, and there are concerns that the wording of the law is open-ended, which could see children criminalised unecessarily.
What do you think of such a law?
For more information about Australia's stance on cyber-bullying, visit the AHRC website.
My goodness if they introduce such a law here our courts will be overwhelmed! But I do agree that something has to be done about cyber bullying. I truly worry for my grandchildren that they may face bullying in the future when they are old enough to get a Facebook account. Teens are particularly vulnerable and do need to be protected.