On May 30, Tennessee passed a law to regulate online interactions, making it illegal to engage in online communications that might result in emotional harm.
This law would impute criminal liability to an uploader of an image, even if there really is no intent to cause emotional harm to the victim. So if someone posts a picture of Muhammad or makes fun of a political group, they might be facing criminal fines and jail-time.
The Tennessee law would even apply if these pictures were posted on an online bulletin board run by a newspaper or TV station.
With these limitations on free speech, this Tennessee law will almost certainly face Constitutionality challenges.
The Tennessee law would even apply if these pictures were posted on an online bulletin board run by a newspaper or TV station.
In addition to the effect on online speech, part of the same law also seeks to circumvent restrictions on government enforcement’s obtaining private messages and information from social networking sites without a search warrant.
New Jersey has a similar bill (AB 2689) that would impose fines of $1,000-$5,000 for sending “abusive communication” to someone under 18 through a social network.
