New York – State Lawmakers: Impersonate Someone’s Identity On Net Should Be A Crime

New York – Identity theft for financial gain is a well-known problem, but cyberbullying is becoming a growing concern, said Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan).

Kellner’s bill would create the crime of digital impersonation for those who steal someone’s identity to harass, send unsolicited spam – or make bogus embarrassing postings.

Kellner said a growing number of schoolkids set up social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter as somebody else.

They then use those accounts to harass others, with the person whose identity was stolen taking the blame and often becoming a “pariah.”

“People’s lives can be ruined,” Kellner said. “People have actually been driven to suicide in cases.”

The Federal Communications Commission estimates as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.

Kellner’s bill would make it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine to engage in “digital impersonation for the purposes of harming, threatening or defrauding another person.”

It would also allow those whose identities are stolen to sue the perpetrators for up to $500 per incident.

Other states like California have passed laws to crack down on digital impersonation.

Kellner’s bill is sponsored in the state Senate by Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).

“It’s trying to get a handle on a different kind of cyberbullying,” Golden said. “You’ve got to set some parameters so people understand that you have to live within the norm of society.”