Cyberbullying

Definition
Cyberbullying consists of harassing communications sent via e-mail or text messages or through social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

== Megan Meier case

The issue made national headlines in November 2007 after the suicide of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old Missouri girl. In that case, the mother of a former friend of Megan’s set up a fake MySpace page, pretending to be a boy who had just moved to the area and was home-schooled. Within a few weeks of becoming “friends” with “Josh,” on October 15, 2006, the tone of his messages changed drastically, with “Josh” saying he no longer wanted to be friends with Megan, because “he” had heard that she had been mean to some of her friends. On October 16, 2006, Megan hanged herself in her closet.

Although much cyberbullying takes place in the “wired” world, more recently, these sorts of messages are being sent from and to mobile devices. Since many mobile devices are capable of performing the same tasks as computers, these messages are now being sent via mobile instant messaging, the mobile websites of social networking sites, and text messaging.

Proposed Legislation
The subsequent public outcry over the Megan Meier case led to four bills being introduced in the 110th Congress, three by Representative Linda Sanchez and one by Senator John Kerry; each contained language that would have included the use of wireless devices in the definition of cyberbullying.


 * H.R. 3577 was introduced on September 17, 2007, and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet; no further action was taken.
 * H.R. 4134 was introduced on November 9, 2007; it was passed by the House on November 13, 2007, and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on November 14, 2007.
 * H.R. 6120 was introduced on May 21, 2007, and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary; no further action was taken.
 * S. 3016 was introduced on May 14, 2007, and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; no further action was taken.

The bills were substantially similar. All would have defined cyberbullying to include “verbal, visual, or written psychological bullying or harassment by an individual or group, using an electronic device or devices including e-mail, instant messaging, text messages, blogs, telephones, pagers, and websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior that is intended to harm others.” H.R. 3577, H.R. 4134, and S. 3016 would have authorized $5,000,000 for educational grants to carry out Internet crime prevention education programs from 2008 through 2012; H.R. 6120 would have authorized $10,000,000 for the time period 2009 through 2013.