Another community bans internet harassment

Two articles have been posted on this blog in the past week about the situation in St. Charles County, Mo., in which a teenage girl committed suicide as a result of a fictional internet boyfriend created by a former friend's mother.
Since that incident occurred in November 2006, the community in which it took place has passed a law outlawing internet harassment. Another community, nearby Florissant, has followed suit, according to an article in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The Florissant City Council voted unanimously Monday night to add harassment over the Internet to the city's definitions in its anti-harassment ordinance, saying it "is important to recognize a new form of harassment that has developed with extensive Internet usage in our society."

Councilman Tim Lee said he introduced the harassment measure at the behest of the mayor. It allows for up to six months in jail and a fine for violators and goes into effect in 10 days.

"It makes a statement," Lee said. "We're not going to tolerate this kind of thing in the city of Florissant."

The expanded definition of harassment follows a similar measure passed last week in Dardenne Prairie, where Internet harassment is now a misdemeanor a year after a 13-year-old girl killed herself there.

When her parents went public earlier this month with their claim that Megan Meier hanged herself after becoming upset about messages received from a fictitious MySpace account created by neighbors, the story made news — and brought outrage nationwide.