Senate passes bill criminalizing bullying and cyberbullying; check the rules

This Tuesday (12), Senate General Assembly approves criminalization of bullying and cyberbullying. The text is included in bill 4,224/21 and will now be approved by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

In addition to criminalizing bullying, The text also includes heinous crimes of numerous acts committed against children and adolescents, such as child pornography, kidnapping, and encouraging self-harm..

The text exemplifies two practices in the Criminal Code:

• Tyranny: systematic intimidation as “systematically intimidating, individually or in groups, through physical or psychological violence, without clear motivation, through acts of intimidation, humiliation or discrimination, or through verbal, moral, sexual, social, psychological actions, physical, material actions” is defined. or virtual”, is punishable by a fine.
• cyber bullying: It is classified as “systematic cyberbullying” that occurs through the Internet, social networks, applications, online games or live broadcasts. The penalty is imprisonment from 2 to 4 years and a fine..

PL also approves the establishment of the National Policy to Prevent and Combat Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents. It will be the responsibility of educational institutions to comply with rules and protocols to combat violence.

“We cannot accept that an institution focused on the noble mission of transferring knowledge, developing skills and, above all, creating values ​​that promote human dignity and social harmony, should become the scene of such deplorable facts or other events that undermine physical integrity and mental integrity. Project rapporteur Senator Dr. . Moral health and moral well-being of children and adolescents,” said Hiran (PP-RR).

New heinous crimes

The text of PL 4,224/21 also aims to turn acts such as encouraging or assisting suicide or self-harm via the internet into heinous crimes, and not only for underage victims.

If approved, the PL could prevent crimes like the one in São Paulo, where men posted scenes of assaults on minors on Discord.