Proposed bill endangers freedom of speech for Arizonians

Katherine Johnson
Columnist

Arizona’s state legislature recently passed a bill that resembles the infamous standards of SOPA and PIPA. If passed in its original context, free speech would be eliminated from the Internet. The bill is an update to a law that applies to telephone call and would now expand to any electronic or digital device, according to the Huffington Post.

After a negative response from the public, legislators are working to amend the bill before sending it to Arizona’s governor. If passed without the amendments, it would be against the law to annoy, threaten, offend and use profane language, among other variations of these same terms. Those against the bill argue that it violates the right to freedom of speech.

While it’s important to emphasize that threatening or harassing someone through any means is wrong, it’s almost impossible and a violation of individual rights to implement a law that enforces these standards.

If someone were to violate this law, they could face a $2,500 fine, serve six months in jail or be placed on probation for three years. The law would even apply to a personal exchange between friends that involves “profane” language.

Based on the consequences of the proposed bill, it’s clear that almost anyone who uses the Internet today would be breaking the law. For example, most shared links, videos and private chats that take place on social-networking sites would be illegal for Arizona citizens.

While the bill addresses an important topic, the legislators went about trying to fix the problem the wrong way. If implemented, the bill would surely cut down the number of hateful messages sent by anonymous users on the popular site Tumblr, but what about those who are simply sharing a joke with friends or playfully teasing through instant messaging or Facebook?

Instead, the best way to eliminate the keyboard confidence epidemic is by educating kids on appropriate Internet use. As an alternative to the bill that limits free speech, the Arizona government could implement a program similar to Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) that addresses cyber bullying. In a world that now

relies on technology, kids must also be educated on how to use it and learn what’s appropriate.

The best case to support this may be the number of teen suicides that have occurred in the past few years. In many of these situations, teens took their own lives after being bullied for their sexuality, both in person and online. With the rise of cyber bullying and kids becoming tech-savvy at younger ages, it was diligent of the legislators to realize that something must be done to prevent threats and harassment sent from electronic devices.

If it passes, the bill needs to become more specific about what is illegal. If not, almost everyone would

be in danger of breaking this law, and it would be almost impossible to enforce in the digital realm.

The best way to end this type of behavior is by getting to the root of it. Teaching children that their behavior on the Internet has consequences and it’s not right to personally attack someone in person or online is more practical, and probably more effective in the long run than passing a bill to fix the problem.