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House Bill 3490 |
House Author: Cole |
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Effective: Vetoed |
Senate Sponsor: Huffman et al. |
House Bill 3490 amends the Penal Code to expand the conduct that constitutes the Class B misdemeanor offense of harassment to include publishing on a website, including a social media platform, repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably likely to harass, abuse, or torment another person.
Governor's Reason for Veto: "Cyberbullying is unacceptable and must be stopped. In 2017, I signed Senate Bill 179 into law because cyberbullying is a very real problem. House Bill 3490 shares the same good intentions. Unfortunately, the language used in the bill is overbroad and would sweep in conduct that legislators did not intend to criminalize, such as repeated criticisms of elected officials on Internet websites. I look forward to working next session to forcefully counter cyberbullying in ways that can be upheld constitutionally.