Arizona Proposes "Anti-Trolling" Law

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http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2166203/arizona-lawmakers-weigh-anti-trolling-law

Bolding mine.

That's where things start to get hairy. Sure, its nice to try to stop people from harrassing others. But offending and annoying them? I've certainly offended and annoyed many people on other (and probably this) discussion site. I am a criminal, I suppose.

Also, although not mentioned in the above-linked article, the proposed law also specifically mentions "obsene, lewd, or profane language." Essentially making swear words (a highly subjective area) against the law. Some conservative Christian groups consider the word "damn" to be a swear. Where do we draw the line? Seems like a mighty slippery slope, my friends.

As brought out by the article, there is no specification made that the language actually offended the person it was directed to. It seems to be making allowance for ANYONE who read the message, and was offended or annoyed, to report this as a crime.

Law should fail by default. If it doesn't, it can't be trusted.

lol y u mad tho?

sad troll is sad

the bill is dead now...

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2012/04/internet_trolls_can_breathe_ea.php

I'm a bit behind on the news Oh well.

Anyway, I am glad. I didn't see this bill (as it was written) being admissable by the Supreme Court anyway. It is clearly a violation of First Amendment rights.

Wow, I can get anyone thrown in jail if they offend me or annoy me if they happen to live in AZ.

And define harassment? Sending someone even one PM can be defined as that. Maybe no one should send no one PMs because they might get accused of harassment. This law fails.

Oh, man. Can't wait to see how the AZCentral message board community responds to this. Basically, every comment on there is just one big tug of war.

Everyone knows this isn't about 'Trolling'. It's about censorship.

^ I agree.

Also, there has been conjecture that it's a cashgrab by the state since the punishment starts at fines.

As I mentioned, this is clearly a violation of the First Amendment's right to free speech... I shudder to think of the direction this would take us. A world where offending someone is a crime? Any given thing offends SOMEONE out there. I've done my share of inadvertant offending. Can you imagine ending up in jail over that? Might as well move to China.

That was my thought exactly. Nobody has a right to not be annoyed or offended. If anything, everyone has a constitutional right to annoy or offend, be it intentional or accidental.

The "offended" bit reminds me of this excellent video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bwGsOBTlhE[/youtube]

If offending and annoying people was a crime, I would be in prison as would anyone else who ever used a forum on the internet. Someone is always going to be annoyed or offended by soothing someone else says. I mean, if I say on a forum something like "I believe that white people are not inherently superior to black people" I will be offending members of the KKK. I often say the truth and this annoys people of a certain political persuasion. Does this make me a criminal? This law is stupid and is bound to fail due to 1st amendment free speech rights.,

unconstitutional and unenforceable
*doesn't lose sleep about it*

There's no such thing as a troll. Troll is just a euphemism for a bully.

The law will never hold up. We can't even prosecute bullies in real life. How the hell are we going to prosecute internet bullies? I'm not saying they shouldn't be punished but it's not practical. The problem can't be solved through punishment, it can only be solved through mass societal change.

There's no such thing as a troll. Troll is just a euphemism for a bully.

The law will never hold up. We can't even prosecute bullies in real life. How the hell are we going to prosecute internet bullies? I'm not saying they shouldn't be punished but it's not practical. The problem can't be solved through punishment, it can only be solved through mass societal change.