Once again, a bill wants to tackle cyberbullying head-on. This time, it is a question of imposing on social networks a banishment of up to one year for all Internet users convicted of harassment. It would then be impossible for the latter to connect, or even create another account on the platform concerned.
This is one of the government’s hobbies. Regularly, it announces its desire to put an end to online harassment, without seeming to agree on a specific solution. Some proposals have already been made, such as the very controversial end of anonymity on the Internet, but no real measures have yet been put in place. This could soon change with a new bill, currently under consideration by the Council of State.
The project is this time slightly more radical. As the Informed explains to us, the government wants to impose on social networks a banishment from their platform of anyone convicted of cyberbullying. Concretely, if Facebook or Twitter recognizes that a user is guilty of harassment, they will also have to apply a banishment penalty. This is the first piece of legislation to consider this possibility.
Up to one year ban from social media for cyberbullying
The text thus provides a period of 6 months for banishment, but who could climb up to one year in case of recidivism on the part of the accused. To do this, we imagine that the platform concerned will have to use the IP address of the offending Internet user to block any connection attempt, from any device. In fact, it will also be impossible for him to create a new account.
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In addition, social networks expose themselves to a fine of 75,000 euros in the event of refusal to apply this measure. Legal persons, on the other hand, risk a fine of 375,000 euros. However, this technique also has limitations. Indeed, it would mean that all persons residing in the same household would also be affected by the blocking.
For now, there is no indication that this bill will come into force. As the Informed recalls, other texts have failed with the latter, such as that of the deputy Laetitia Avia which aimed for the withdrawal in 24 hours of any hateful content. In Japan, cyberstalkers risk a one-year prison sentence.
Source : The Informed
