Cyberharassment

The Affiliate successfully opposed a bill that sought to expand the definition of criminal “harassment” to include not just unwanted direct contact, but also the posting of information on Web sites about people. If passed, the bill could have subjected innumerable Internet users and bloggers to criminal penalties if their criticism of people or businesses was deemed to be designed to cause “substantial emotional distress.” After the ACLU argued that the bill raised serious free speech concerns, Representative Edith Ajello and Senator Charles Levesque persuaded fellow Judiciary Committee members to remove problematic language from the legislation.