(Newswire.net — May 19, 2017) — The internet is a great place to find old friends and to communicate with new, but that doesn’t make it a safe place to play. When you are talking with someone via the internet, there is no way to know who is on the other end of the keyboard. All you have to go by is what they are telling you about who they say they are. There is no law that says you can’t lie about who you are online. In fact, the entire dating world on the internet would probably fall apart if that were the case. Who hasn’t embellished what they look like or their accomplishments a bit, especially when no one is the wiser?
If you plan to misrepresent yourself online and you are in Texas, you might want to think twice. There is the potential that if you are charged with impersonation or with posting something false under the statement it’s true, you could be facing felony charges. There is a point where a “prank” is no laughing matter and it could land you in a whole lot of legal trouble. This Texas felony law can take something that was meant to make people chuckle and ruin the poster’s entire life.
In 2011, the Texas legislature passed a bill to respond to the increasing number of incidents of people using social media sites to intimidate, bully, stalk, defraud or harass people. Up until that point, the victims had no recourse. Social media sites were a free-for-all, with people using social media sites to defraud women out of money, coerce young girls to go to places where they could be assaulted, and slander people without any way for law enforcement to stop the activities or prosecute the guilty parties.
The specific penal code is 33.07 — the “online impersonation” clause. It states that if a person uses the internet to defraud, harm or intimidate another person, without disclosing who they are, or worse yet pretending to be someone they are not, they are open to felony charges.
Creating a website for social networking or other internet commerce sites, or posting or sending messages through a commercial networking website that uses an electronic mail or message-board program, are both punishable by law. The Texas online impersonation statute is a third-degree felony charge and carries with it the same punishment as a third theft or DWI charge. It also carries penalties of $30,000 or more. This is nothing to laugh or scoff at; it is a very serious crime for Texas residents who are caught misrepresenting themselves for personal gain at someone else’s expense.
The stipulation of “doing someone intentional harm,” however, is a slippery one. What is harmful to one person is a mere joke to another and who is to say when someone passes over that line? When the law was passed in 2011, there were already laws in place about abuse and how to use the internet. The new imposter clause is one additional way that someone could be prosecuted for misusing the internet.
What about a prank? America has been on an anti-bullying campaign for decades now. The internet has just taken cyberbullying to a new high. Being able to humiliate someone in one fell swoop is easier now than ever before. But at what point do you cross over your First Amendment rights and your prank or joke become a felony? Also, is it a good idea to tie up courts’ and prosecutors’ time over some hurt feelings? Many legislatures think that the original Class B misdemeanor that stood before is enough to punish someone who is perpetrating a prank on someone. Taking it to the felony level seems a little bit harsh.
Those who are accused of a prank must hire a Queens criminal defense lawyer to defend them against some pretty harsh consequences, which could cost a lot. Since the evidence is already there in writing, it is all about the defense that the attorney builds to defend someone’s actions and how they try to define, or redefine, “impersonation.” Taking in other harassment law specifics, those who find themselves in trouble need the right defense attorney who knows the logistics of criminal law. Finding someone who specializes in online impersonation is the best way to build a viable defense against a felony charge. Even better, leaving pranks for the locker room might be the best way to go.