House members overwhelmingly backed legislation Thursday that makes it a crime to bully a minor over the Internet.
Rep. Nick Mackey, a Mecklenburg County Democrat and chief sponsor of the bill, said the Internet takes bullying off the school bus and out of the classroom and puts it into the community.
"It allows the bullies to reach the victim anytime," Mackey said. "The victim can't even go home to escape it."
The bill, which passed by a 112 to 4 vote, would make it a class 1 misdemeanor to, among other violations, torment a minor in an Internet chat room or post an altered image of a minor on the Internet with the intent to embarrass or intimidate them.
The bill passed without any of the divisive debate that accompanied a broader bill in the Senate that requires schools to institute anti-bullying policies. That legislation drew heat because it identifies various characteristics, including sexual orientation, about which a student may be bullied.
Mackey's bill, on the other hand, refers to all minors.
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