Rich Swier recently wrote about the phenomenon of lawfare.  To understand how this concept is being used in the struggle between traditional Islam and the West, see libel tourism. 

Islamists intent on suppressing efforts to criticize Islam have good reason to cheer H.R. 1966, which has not been voted on.    

 H.R. 1966 of the 111^th session of Congress is titled “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act”.  It is named for the 13 year old Dardenne Prairie, Missouri girl who committed suicide on 10/17/06 after being the victim of cyberbullying on MySpace.

Lori Drew, 50, mother of a former friend of Megan, was convicted the misdemeanor of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress.  She was acquitted of felony computer hacking and felony criminal conspiracy charges.  Megan’s parents are distressed at the charge and the trial of Lori Drew is stopped at the sentencing phase while the federal judge considers the defense motion to dismiss. 

The trial has uncovered what the defense describes as the lack of appropriate law to cover the facts of the case.   

In an understandable spirit of addressing injustice, H.R. 1966 contains this language: 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Four out of five of United States

children aged 2 to 17 live in a home where either they or their parents access the Internet.

(2) Youth who create Internet content and use social networking sites are more likely to be targets of cyberbullying.

(3) Electronic communications provide anonymity to the perpetrator and the potential for widespread public distribution, potentially making them severely dangerous and cruel to youth.

(4) Online victimizations are associated with emotional distress and other psychological problems, including depression.

(5) Cyberbullying can cause psychological harm, including depression; negatively impact academic performance, safety, and the well-being of children in school; force children to change schools; and in some cases lead to extreme violent behavior, including murder and suicide

(6) Sixty percent of mental health professionals who responded to the Survey of Internet Mental Health Issues report having treated at least one patient with a problematic Internet experience in the previous five years; 54 percent of these clients were 18 years of age or younger.

Note that the findings are all about children.  There is no such limitation in the description of cyberbullying that follows:

Sec. 881. Cyberbullying

‘(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

‘(b) As used in this section

‘(1) the term ‘communication’ means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user’s choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; and

‘(2) the term ‘electronic means’ means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.’.  [Emphasis mine]

Hurt feelings as an actionable offense is a very iffy notion.  Mark Steyn was put through a legal wringer by an Islamist as a result of the Alberta, Canada Human Rights Commission’s interpretation of this idea. 

Steyn was acquitted (he was backed by a magazine with deep pockets) and cases which do not involve online stalking probably will not get anywhere under Megan’s law.  Such suits have to overcome strong protections for freedom of speech. 

But Islamists understand that winning is not the point in such cases, it is just icing on the cake.  The point is to cause every writer in every forum to stop and consider what will happen if he is sued-- is what he wants to say worth the risk?  I certainly have considered this. 

Megan’s law will give Islamists a reasonable chance of at least bringing a critic to trial by claiming that criticism of their religion is harassment that causes them emotional distress. 

Forcing the critic to stop writing criticism and answer legal charges is the victory.