Arizona Poised to Outlaw Trolling

[Taylor]

Oh, wow. Wow. Outside of inciting violence, how is this not a form of protected speech? Private forums can ban this type of behavior, of course, but Congress? I suppose AZ will defend it under the 10th amendment.

Bad form, AZ.

Arizona Looks to Outlaw Internet Trolling | Techland | TIME.com

 

[Cirno]

With the laws that actually make it through, I shudder to think how poorly thought out the ones that don't make it are.

 

[Taylor]

The trick is to fill laws with lots of earmarks and unrelated appropriations in order to make it really long, then pass it before anyone has a chance to read it all and say, "What the hell?"

 

[RhyssaFireheart]

Arizona seems to have become a black hole of concentrated stupidity. Remember, this is the state that tried to pass a law saying that employers could ask for a doctor's note to prove women weren't taking HBC for contraceptive reasons before the employer would cover the medication under insurance.

 

[Cirno]

I see two main questions, really.
Firstly, where's the line supposed to be drawn?
Secondly, how the hell do they expect to enforce it?

The only way I can see it as anything but a waste of whatever resources went into throwing it together is in cases where a person's been internet bullied to a really bad point, and it becomes a charge that can't be as easily wiggled out of on a technicality.
But either way, shouldn't bringing a law into being carry with it some semblance of enforcement?

 

[Mirt]

This was one of the responce laws to what happen at Rutgers I bet. Its pretty much impossible to make folks be nice but now the world is getting more complicated. I would bet this one will not pass the courts muster and need to be redone.

 

[Vlaude]

Eh. The term "trolling" takes on so many definitions now that it's hard to nail down just one. Trolling and cyber bullying were once clearly distinct but now the two terms are used interchangeably. The language in the bill seems to be targeting cyber bullying more than trolling, although the word "annoy" could apply to either term. Any serious online threat of physical violence should certainly be dealt with by local law enforcements, governments, etc. on a case by case basis. But people just clowning around or winding up others is another story. That's my opinion anyway.