A CHANGE to an existing law will see phone users slapped with hefty fines and even jail time if they break the new rules.
The new legislation will be implemented this summer due increased concerns over safety in the rapidly developing tech industry and its impact on users.
The state of Virginia is cracking down on cyber-stalking through messaging apps, emails and calls.
It updates the state’s existing stalking law to include definitions covering cyber-stalking, such as harassment through messaging apps or email.
The policy update comes as domestic violence advocates and the lawmakers behind the change say more is needed to support victims.
From July 1, emails, DMs, texts and phone calls can lead to $2,500 fines & one year jail under the new cyber law.
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Anyone who repeatedly contacts someone to intentionally make them be “in reasonable fear of death, criminal sexual assault, or bodily injury to that other person or that other person’s family or household” is guilty of the new law.
This is also true when the person “reasonably knows” that their conduct would have this effect on the person they are contacting.
It also stipulates that if the person contacts or follows (or attempts to) after being told not to, it will be used as evidence that the person intended to make the other person fear harm under this law.
A first conviction is a Class 1 misdemeanor. A second conviction within five years is a Class 6 felony.
“With technological developments accelerating at a rapid pace, this is only going to be a bigger and bigger problem over time,” Courtenay Schwartz, Policy Director of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance (VSDVAA), said.
“This has to be a priority. It’s an epidemic.
“We need to not only put money toward intervention, but prevention, and we need to start when children are in school, in elementary school, and teach children that about good relationships.”
Sen. Tammy Mulchi (R-Mecklenburg) carried the legislation and said Mecklenburg County’s Commonwealth‘s Attorney brought the issue to her attention after encountering a case where a couple was being harassed by someone the husband knew in high school.
