This bill revises Florida’s stalking law definitions for “harass” and “cyberstalk” in section 784.048, Florida Statutes. Under the bill, harassment remains a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose, while cyberstalking is updated to include not only electronic communications directed at or about a specific person, but also unauthorized access or attempted access to another person’s online accounts or internet-connected home electronic systems when it causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose.
The bill also reenacts related statutory references so that the updated definition of harassment applies consistently to laws covering harassment or intimidation based on religious or ethnic heritage and bullying and harassment in public K-12 education. The effective date is July 1, 2026.
Impact
The bill amends section 784.048, Florida Statutes, and indirectly affects sections 784.0493 and 1006.147 by updating cross-references to the revised harassment definition and cyberstalking language. In practical terms, it broadens the statutory framework for addressing stalking-related conduct to better capture digital harassment and unauthorized access to connected devices and accounts, while maintaining the existing requirements of substantial emotional distress and no legitimate purpose. The changes may affect criminal enforcement, school discipline and anti-bullying policies, and cases involving harassment based on religious or ethnic heritage.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented debate or vote history to indicate a clear level of support or opposition. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be a targeted update to modernize harassment and cyberstalking definitions for digital conduct and related cross-referenced laws.
Contention
Because there are no transcripts or votes, specific points of contention are not documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern, based on the text, could include how broadly the expanded cyberstalking definition might apply to online communications or unauthorized access to internet-connected systems, and how law enforcement, schools, and courts would interpret “substantial emotional distress” and “no legitimate purpose” in digital contexts.