Safer Cyberspace Throughthrough Legal Intervention: A Comparative Evaluation of Cyberbullying Legislation

Cyberbullying in schools is increasing in prevalence both throughout the U.S. and internationally. It has been shown to adversely affect the psychological and physical health of students. This type of bullying is a unique challenge to policymakers as it can be perpetrated both anonymously and on the public forum of cyberspace. School officials often lack the authority and necessary technical expertise to punish and track cyberbullying. This paper examines the legal efforts of U.S. and foreign countries to combat cyberbullying. Five key recommendations are generated from the normative findings. While no U.S. federal law has been passed against cyberbullying, individual states have enacted legislation to address the problem. States with highly effective anti-cyberbullying laws have specifically defined “cyberbullying” and the environments in which the act may occur. Internationally, the majority of countries examined has implemented anti-bullying legislation and policies but have done little to specifically protect against cyberbullying. To more effectively prevent cyberbullying, states without substantive anti-cyberbullying statutes should ensure that proposed legislation: 1) enacts protections specific to the nature of cyberbullying, 2) conforms anti-cyberbullying policies to the key anti-cyberbullying components developed by the U.S. Department of Education, 3) specifically includes and defines the term “cyberbullying”, 4) extends cyberbullying protections to cover off-campus activities, and 5) protects students of all ages, as well as school employees.  The proponents of any U.S.-based anti-cyberbullying policy should note that the U.S. Supreme Court still has yet to resolve whether cyberbullying legislation can extend a school’s authority to limit off-campus speech.