Cyberbullying Law Upheld Over First Amendment Challenge

The court of appeals just upheld North Carolina’s cyberbullying statute over a First Amendment challenge. The result is especially noteworthy because it contrasts with a ruling last year in a similar case in New York. But the opinion does leave at least one important issue open. Facts. The North Carolina case is State v. Bishop. The defendant and the victim were students at the same high school. The defendant posted several comments on Facebook about the victim, including a post calling him “homosexual”; a comment referring to a message the victim had sent to another student on Facebook as “excessively homoerotic in nature”; a statement, in response to another student’s suggestion that they “kick [the victim’s] ass” that the defendant “never got the chance to slap [the victim] down before Christmas break”; and crude comments about the victim’s genitals. The victim became distraught as a result of these and other comments, and his mother contacted law enforcement. The defendant acknowledged making the comments at issue. Procedural history. The defendant was charged with cyberbullying under G.S. 14-458.1. (The title of the statute refers to "cyber-bullying," but I'll omit the hyphen in keeping with common usage.) Specifically, the State alleged that he used a computer or computer network, with the intent to intimidate or torment, to post or encourage others to post “private, personal, or sexual information pertaining to a minor.” G.S. 14-458.1(a)(1)(d). He was convicted in district court and again in superior court, and appealed. Defendant’s argument. The defendant argued that the [...]