Cyberbullying Issues - Assignment Example

Cyberbullying takes place through the use of electronic technology such as computers, cell phones, and tablets. Likewise, cyberbullying takes place by use of communication devices including social network sites, chat, text messages, and websites. In recent days, the United States has attempted to pass legislation curbing cyberbullying.

Various states have put in place legislation and implemented Federal laws since 1985 to protect against various cybercrimes including. Under Sec.113. Federal "Cyberbullying Prevention": To strengthen bullying prosecution devices, this section likewise amends the Communications Act of 1934 to give a clear definition of a telecommunications tool(47 U.S.C 223)(h)(1)  to include all device that uses Internet technologies like the voice over various internet services. The amendments in1996 provide. The Communications FEDERAL Act prohibits the making of phone calls of the use of telecommunication tools "without disclosing the identity of one to abuse, annoy, harass or threaten any individual at the called phone number or an individual receiving the communications. This law helped in defining various cybercrimes previously unknown.

In criminal law, the 2011 federal cyber-stalking law has in many ways helped addressed the previously lacking in previously lacking. The law includes language permitted prosecutors to go after individuals using electronic devices to harass. These laws explicitly stipulate that an “interactive computer service” may not be used to threaten. In this regard, close to half of the states in the U.S. have likewise implemented their laws to permit authorities to press charges against individuals engaging in cyber-harassment and cyberstalking.

The significant difference between the two pieces of legislation is in applicability. The initial law was more general and failed to address the dynamic threats that modern-day cyber bullying possesses. The problem with the previous law was that is because this piece of legislation is erroneously thought to be linked to cyberbullying for instance slander and libel (Kowalski et al., 2012).

With the ever-changing digital technology, cyberbullying has been on the rise thus both the State and federal laws legislations are challenging. The problem has influenced the pieces of legislation in many ways since cyberbullying has never been directly defined nor applied to it as criminal behavior. Likewise, Anti-cyber bullying advocates have in recent days expressed concern about the broad scope of cyberbullying legislation applicability. In the United States, influence is seen in the problem of defining cyber bullying, and say should charges are pressed if it violates the freedom of speech of the bully.