I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1966 

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to cyberbullying. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 

YARMUTH, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BISHOP of New York, 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HARE, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. 

KIRK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to 

cyberbullying. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Megan Meier 

5 Cyberbullying Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Four out of five of United States children 

2 aged 2 to 17 live in a home where either they or 

3 their parents access the Internet. 

4 (2) Youth who create Internet content and use 

5 social networking sites are more likely to be targets 

6 of cyberbullying. 

7 (3) Electronic communications provide anonym8 ity to the perpetrator and the potential for wide9 spread public distribution, potentially making them 

10 severely dangerous and cruel to youth. 

11 (4) Online victimizations are associated with 

12 emotional distress and other psychological problems, 

13 including depression. 

14 (5) Cyberbullying can cause psychological harm, 

15 including depression; negatively impact academic 

16 performance, safety, and the well-being of children 

17 in school; force children to change schools; and in 

18 some cases lead to extreme violent behavior, includ19 ing murder and suicide. 

20 (6) Sixty percent of mental health professionals 

21 who responded to the Survey of Internet Mental 

22 Health Issues report having treated at least one pa23 tient with a problematic Internet experience in the 

24 previous five years; 54 percent of these clients were 

25 18 years of age or younger. 


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1 SEC. 3. CYBERBULLYING. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 41 of title 18, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 881. Cyberbullying 

6 ‘‘(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign com7 merce any communication, with the intent to coerce, in8 timidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress 

9 to a person, using electronic means to support severe, re10 peated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title 

11 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 

12 ‘‘(b) As used in this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) the term ‘communication’ means the elec14 tronic transmission, between or among points speci15 fied by the user, of information of the user’s choos16 ing, without change in the form or content of the in17 formation as sent and received; and 

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘electronic means’ means any 

19 equipment dependent on electrical power to access 

20 an information service, including email, instant mes21 saging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text mes22 sages.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 41 of title 18, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘881. Cyberbullying.’’. 

Æ 


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