103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB3289

 

Introduced 2/17/2023, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
720 ILCS 5/12-7.5

    Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Adds a definition of "anxiety" to the statute defining cyberstalking based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) definition of anxiety.


LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3289LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
5changing Section 12-7.5 as follows:
 
6    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
7    Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
8    (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages
9in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
10at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
11would cause a reasonable person to:
12        (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
13    person; or
14        (2) suffer other emotional distress.
15    (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
16knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
17separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
18electronic communication and:
19        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
20    future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
21    restraint and the threat is directed towards that person
22    or a family member of that person; or
23        (2) places that person or a family member of that

 

 

HB3289- 2 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
2    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
3        (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of
4    an act by any person which would be a violation of this
5    Code directed towards that person or a family member of
6    that person.
7    (a-4) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she
8knowingly, surreptitiously, and without lawful justification,
9installs or otherwise places electronic monitoring software or
10spyware on an electronic communication device as a means to
11harass another person and:
12        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
13    future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
14    restraint and the threat is directed towards that person
15    or a family member of that person;
16        (2) places that person or a family member of that
17    person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
18    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
19        (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of
20    an act by any person which would be a violation of this
21    Code directed towards that person or a family member of
22    that person.
23    For purposes of this Section, an installation or placement
24is not surreptitious if:
25        (1) with respect to electronic software, hardware, or
26    computer applications, clear notice regarding the use of

 

 

HB3289- 3 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    the specific type of tracking software or spyware is
2    provided by the installer in advance to the owners and
3    primary users of the electronic software, hardware, or
4    computer application; or
5        (2) written or electronic consent of all owners and
6    primary users of the electronic software, hardware, or
7    computer application on which the tracking software or
8    spyware will be installed has been sought and obtained
9    through a mechanism that does not seek to obtain any other
10    approvals or acknowledgement from the owners and primary
11    users.
12    (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
13knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
14maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible
15to one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
16and which contains statements harassing another person and:
17        (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future
18    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint,
19    where the threat is directed towards that person or a
20    family member of that person, or
21        (2) which places that person or a family member of
22    that person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or
23    future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
24    restraint, or
25        (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act
26    by any person which would be a violation of this Code

 

 

HB3289- 4 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    directed towards that person or a family member of that
2    person.
3    (b) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony; a second
4or subsequent conviction is a Class 3 felony.
5    (c) For purposes of this Section:
6        (0.5) "Anxiety" means excessive worry and apprehensive
7    expectations, occurring more days than not for at least 6
8    months, about a number of events or activities, such as
9    work or school performance and is associated with 3 or
10    more of the following 6 symptoms with at least some
11    symptoms present for more days than not for the past 6
12    months:
13            (1) restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge;
14            (2) easily fatigued;
15            (3) difficulty concentrating or mind going blank;
16            (4) irritability;
17            (5) muscle tension; and
18            (6) sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling
19        or staying asleep, or restless and unsatisfying sleep.
20        The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms cause
21    clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
22    occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
23        (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts,
24    including but not limited to acts in which a defendant
25    directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any
26    action, method, device, or means follows, monitors,

 

 

HB3289- 5 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or
2    about, a person, engages in other non-consensual contact,
3    or interferes with or damages a person's property or pet.
4    The incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
5    commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution
6    under this Section.
7        (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
8    signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
9    any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
10    radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
11    system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
12    through an electronic device including, but not limited
13    to, a telephone, cellular phone, computer, or pager, which
14    communication includes, but is not limited to, e-mail,
15    instant message, text message, or voice mail.
16        (2.1) "Electronic communication device" means an
17    electronic device, including, but not limited to, a
18    wireless telephone, personal digital assistant, or a
19    portable or mobile computer.
20        (2.2) "Electronic monitoring software or spyware"
21    means software or an application that surreptitiously
22    tracks computer activity on a device and records and
23    transmits the information to third parties with the intent
24    to cause injury or harm. For the purposes of this
25    paragraph (2.2), "intent to cause injury or harm" does not
26    include activities carried out in furtherance of the

 

 

HB3289- 6 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1    prevention of fraud or crime or of protecting the security
2    of networks, online services, applications, software,
3    other computer programs, users, or electronic
4    communication devices or similar devices.
5        (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
6    suffering, anxiety or alarm.
7        (4) "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful
8    course of conduct directed at a specific person that
9    alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person.
10        (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
11    the victim that is initiated or continued without the
12    victim's consent, including but not limited to being in
13    the physical presence of the victim; appearing within the
14    sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim
15    in a public place or on private property; appearing at the
16    workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
17    remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
18    victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
19    to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
20        (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
21    circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the
22    defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
23        (7) "Third party" means any person other than the
24    person violating these provisions and the person or
25    persons towards whom the violator's actions are directed.
26    (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service

 

 

HB3289- 7 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1providers, and providers of information services, including,
2but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting
3service providers, are not liable under this Section, except
4for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the
5transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications
6or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other
7related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
8information services used by others in violation of this
9Section.
10    (e) A defendant who directed the actions of a third party
11to violate this Section, under the principles of
12accountability set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty
13of violating this Section as if the same had been personally
14done by the defendant, without regard to the mental state of
15the third party acting at the direction of the defendant.
16    (f) It is not a violation of this Section to:
17        (1) provide, protect, maintain, update, or upgrade
18    networks, online services, applications, software, other
19    computer programs, electronic communication devices, or
20    similar devices under the terms of use applicable to those
21    networks, services, applications, software, programs, or
22    devices;
23        (2) interfere with or prohibit terms or conditions in
24    a contract or license related to networks, online
25    services, applications, software, other computer programs,
26    electronic communication devices, or similar devices; or

 

 

HB3289- 8 -LRB103 29877 RLC 56287 b

1        (3) create any liability by reason of terms or
2    conditions adopted, or technical measures implemented, to
3    prevent the transmission of unsolicited electronic mail or
4    communications.
5(Source: P.A. 100-166, eff. 1-1-18.)