Home » Law and Legal Articles » New Privacy Law Protects Users' Online Identities
New Privacy Law Protects Users' Online Identities
The California legislature enacted a law last year to criminalize abusive behavior over the Internet, including online impersonators.
December 08, 2011 /Law and Legal PR News/ -- Social media has exploded in popularity in recent years, with hundreds of millions of people using Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. However, the ease of communicating through a cyberworld has also paved the way for new methods of harassment. Compared to 2004, it is much more likely for women to be stalked or harassed through social media outlets. Vulnerable personalities are also attacked by disparaging messages that have gone viral. Other victims of abuse may suffer in silence, traumatized by the threat of embarrassing being broadcast. Further, some may hijack a person's online identity to communicate false statements or to spread rumors about highly sensitive personal issues.
While these crimes go largely unpunished, the California legislature enacted a law last year to criminalize abusive behavior over the Internet, including online impersonators. Under SB 1411, anyone who assumes the identity of another person to intentionally harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud another may be found guilty of a misdemeanor. The law also allows abuse victims to seek money damages for losses stemming from such malicious behavior.
The bill's author, state senator Joe Simitian explained to the San Francisco Chronicle how the law will be a deterrent to "e-personators", those who post invitations to adult websites or send obscene emails while pretending to be someone else, as well as people who use social media outlets for malicious purposes.
The new law went into effect on January 1, 2011.
Simitian also explained how the legislation was influenced in part by Silicon Valley Leadership Group President Carl Guardino, who recounted three different instances where either he or someone he knew had been a victim of online impersonators. Guardino sought help from local police and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office and they told him there really wasn't anything they could do legally.
As the bill was considered by legislators, a number of free speech advocates questioned whether the law would infringe upon free speech. On its face, the law does not explicitly create exceptions for political satire and parodies, but it requires that an offender credibly impersonate another actual person. In essence, a person must reasonably believe that the impersonation was real in order for it to be actionable.
Nevertheless, the law provides abuse victims with some type of legal recourse in the event their online identity is used in some malicious fashion. According to the Stanford Law Center's Society for Internet and Society, the law is an integral step in handling the exploding number of online harassment cases and privacy breaches. Proponents also believe that it will inevitably save lives, as some abuse victims become depressed and contemplate suicide.
Recently the City of Los Angeles' Cyber Crime and Child Abuse Prevention Unit charged its first defendant under the new law. 22-year-old Jesus Felix was charged with using social media sites to harass his 16-year-old girlfriend. According to a report by the San Jose Mercury News, Felix created 130 Facebook pages and numerous Craigslist listings with photographs of his former girlfriend. The girlfriend's mother learned about a number of online profiles with sexually explicit photographs of her daughter and contacted police.
Felix pled no contest to two misdemeanor counts of violating the new impersonation law and one count of making harassing phone calls. He was sentenced to five years' probation, 30 days' road work and a year in jail. His jail time was stayed pending his completion of counseling plus anger management and sex therapy classes. Felix was also ordered to stay away from the victim and have no Internet access during his probation.
It remains to be seen whether free speech challenges will prevent the law from protecting online identities, or whether more online abuse victims will come forward now that a legal remedy is available.
Article provided by Erik S. Syverson, Attorney at Law
Visit us at http://www.syversonlaw.com
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