Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-217 (2020)

1. As used in this section:
   1. “Communication” means the electronic communication of information of a person's choosing between or among points specified by the person without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received;
   2. “Electronic means” means any textual, visual, written, or oral communication of any kind made through the use of a computer online service, Internet service, telephone, or any other means of electronic communication, including without limitation to a local bulletin board service, an Internet chat room, electronic mail, a social networking site, or an online messaging service; and
   3. “School employee” means a person who is employed full time or part time at a school that serves students in any of the grades kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12), including without limitation a:
      1. Public school operated by a school district;
      2. Public school operated by a state agency or institution of higher education;
      3. Public charter school; or
      4. Private school.
2. A person commits the offense of cyberbullying if:
   1. He or she transmits, sends, or posts a communication by electronic means with the purpose to frighten, coerce, intimidate, threaten, abuse, or harass another person; and
   2. The transmission was in furtherance of severe, repeated, or hostile behavior toward the other person.
3. The offense of cyberbullying may be prosecuted in the county where the defendant was located when he or she transmitted, sent, or posted a communication by electronic means, in the county where the communication by electronic means was received by the person, or in the county where the person targeted by the electronic communications resides.
4. 1. Cyberbullying is a Class B misdemeanor.
   2. Cyberbullying is a Class A misdemeanor if the victim is a school employee.

History. Acts 2011, No. 905, § 1; 2013, No. 1431, § 2; 2013, No. 1492, § 1; 2015, No. 1155, § 13.

A.C.R.C. Notes. Acts 2013, No. 1431, § 1, provided:

“The General Assembly finds that:

“(1) The successful recruitment and retention of school employees is essential to maintaining the state's constitutional obligation to provide a free and efficient system of public education;

“(2) A safe and civil environment in any school is necessary for school employees to meet the objective of providing opportunities for students to learn and achieve high academic standards;

“(3) Cyberbullying of school employees has become a national problem, subjecting school employees to many forms of intentional harassment that can be emotionally and professionally devastating;

“(4) Because of the nature of online communications, students may feel they can act with anonymity and detachment when they are engaging in cyberbullying of a school employee;

“(5) Some examples of the means used by students are:

“(A) Building a fake profile or website;

“(B) Posting or encouraging others to post on the Internet private, personal, or sexual information pertaining to a school employee;

“(C) Posting an original or edited image of the school employee on the Internet;

“(D) Accessing, altering, or erasing any computer network, computer data, computer program, or computer software, including breaking into a password-protected account or stealing or otherwise accessing passwords of a school employee;

“(E) Making repeated, continuing, or sustained electronic communications, including electronic mail or other transmissions, to a school employee;

“(F) Making, or causing to be made, and disseminating an unauthorized copy of data pertaining to a school employee in any form, including without limitation the printed or electronic form of computer data, computer programs, or computer software residing in, communicated by, or produced by a computer or computer network;

“(G) Signing up a school employee for a pornographic Internet site; or

“(H) Without authorization of the school employee, signing up a school employee for electronic mailing lists or to receive junk electronic messages and instant messages; and

“(6) This act is intended to heighten public attention to this crime and further protect an Arkansas public school employee from cyberbullying.”

Amendments. The 2013 amendment by No. 1431 added (d)(2).

The 2013 amendment by No. 1492, in (b)(1), substituted “electronic” for “electonic” and “or harass” for “harass, or alarm”.

The 2015 amendment added (a)(3); redesignated (d)(2)(A) as (d)(2); in (d)(2), deleted “of a school employee” following “Cyberbullying” and added “if the victim is a school employee”; and deleted (d)(2)(B).