Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3024 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Wu H.B. No. 3024
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to civil and criminal liability for doxing; creating an
7	7	offense.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 22, Penal Code, is amended by adding
10	10	Section 22.13 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 22.13 DOXING. (a) A person commits an offense if:
12	12	(1) the person intentionally posts another person's
13	13	private personal information without consent of the person whose
14	14	information is posted;
15	15	(2) the information is posted:
16	16	(A) with the intent to promote or assist in the
17	17	commission of an offense that would cause the person whose
18	18	information is posted to suffer death, bodily injury, or stalking,
19	19	under Section 42.072; or,
20	20	(B) with the intent that the information would be
21	21	used to threaten harm or to harass any person and with reckless
22	22	disregard that the posting would be reasonably likely to incite an
23	23	attempt to cause the person to suffer death, bodily injury, or
24	24	stalking, under Section 42.072; and,
25	25	(3) the posting of the information:
26	26	(A) is conducted with knowledge that the
27	27	information will be used in the commission of an offense that would
28	28	cause harm to the person whose information is posted or to a close
29	29	relation to that person;
30	30	(B) would cause a reasonable person to suffer
31	31	significant economic injury or mental anguish or to fear serious
32	32	bodily injury or death for oneself or for a close relation to
33	33	oneself; or
34	34	(C) causes the person whose information is posted
35	35	to suffer a substantial life disruption.
36	36	(b) An offense under paragraph a(3)(A) or (a)(3)(B) is a
37	37	Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a State Jail Felony
38	38	if an individual suffers death, physical injury, mental anguish or
39	39	significant economic injury as a proximate result of conduct
40	40	arising out of the posting.
41	41	(c) An offense under Subsection a(3)(C) is a Class B
42	42	misdemeanor.
43	43	(d) If in the trial of an offense under this section, an
44	44	affirmative finding is made that the offense was committed because
45	45	of bias or prejudice, under Article 42.014, Code of Criminal
46	46	Procedure, the punishment for the offense is increased as provided
47	47	under Section 12.47.
48	48	(e) It is not an offense under this section for a person to
49	49	provide another person's private personal information in
50	50	connection with:
51	51	(1) the reporting of information about criminal
52	52	activity to a peace officer or an employee of a law enforcement
53	53	agency, and the person making the report reasonably believes the
54	54	information to be true;
55	55	(2) any lawfully authorized investigative,
56	56	protective, or intelligence activity of any law enforcement agency
57	57	or of an intelligence agency of the United States; or
58	58	(3) lawful and constitutionally protected activity as
59	59	it pertains to speech, assembly or petition.
60	60	(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed in any manner
61	61	to:
62	62	(1) conflict with 47 U.S.C. § 230 of the Communication
63	63	Decency Act;
64	64	(2) conflict with 42 U.S.C. § 1983 of the Civil Rights
65	65	Act; or,
66	66	(3) prohibit any activity protected under the
67	67	Constitution of the United States or the Texas Constitution.
68	68	(g) If conduct constituting an offense under this section
69	69	also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the
70	70	actor may be prosecuted under either section or both sections.
71	71	(h) In this section:
72	72	(1) "Close relation" means a member of the person's
73	73	family or household or an individual with whom the person has a
74	74	dating relationship, or any other individual for whom the release
75	75	of the private personal information could reasonably lead to an
76	76	offense being committed against that individual, including
77	77	coworkers or persons at the residence of the person who is the
78	78	subject of the information.
79	79	(2) "Dating relationship," "family," "household," and
80	80	"member of a household" have the meanings assigned by Chapter 71,
81	81	Family Code.
82	82	(2) "Electronic communication" has the meaning
83	83	assigned by Section 42.07;
84	84	(3) "Mental anguish" means emotional distress or
85	85	emotional suffering as evidenced by anxiety, fear, torment or
86	86	apprehension that may or may not result in a physical manifestation
87	87	of mental anguish or a mental health diagnosis. The mental anguish
88	88	must be protracted and not merely trivial or transitory;
89	89	(4) "Private personal information" means:
90	90	(A) "Personal identifying information" as that
91	91	term is defined in Section 521.002(a)(1), Business and Commerce
92	92	Code;
93	93	(B) "Sensitive personal information" as that
94	94	term is defined in Section 521.002(a)(2), Business and Commerce
95	95	Code;
96	96	(C) information that alone or in conjunction with
97	97	other information identifies an individual and reveals the
98	98	individual's race, color, disability, religion, sex, national
99	99	origin, or age, or includes any sexually intimate visual depiction
100	100	of the individual; and,
101	101	(D) usernames, passwords, or any other
102	102	information that provides access to a person's communications by
103	103	means of teleconferencing, video-teleconferencing, or any other
104	104	form of digital meeting room.
105	105	(5) "Post" means to circulate, deliver, distribute,
106	106	disseminate, transmit or otherwise make available to two or more
107	107	persons through electronic communication;
108	108	(6) "Substantial life disruption" means that a person
109	109	significantly modifies that person's actions or routines in an
110	110	attempt to avoid the actor or because of the actor's course of
111	111	conduct, such as changing a phone number, changing an electronic
112	112	mail address, deleting personal electronic accounts or
113	113	significantly decreasing use of the internet, moving from an
114	114	established residence, changing daily routines, changing routes to
115	115	and from work, changing employment or work schedule or losing time
116	116	from work or a job.
117	117	SECTION 2. Chapter 13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
118	118	amended by adding Article 13.39 to read as follows:
119	119	Art. 13.39. DOXING. The offense of doxing may be prosecuted
120	120	in any county in which an element of the offense occurred, or in
121	121	which a person resides who is the subject of the private personal
122	122	information posted as an element of the offense.
123	123	SECTION 3. Title 5, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
124	124	amended by adding Chapter 98C to read as follows:
125	125	CHAPTER 98C. LIABILITY FOR DOXING
126	126	Sec 98C.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter, "private
127	127	personal information" has the meaning assigned by Section 22.13(h),
128	128	Penal Code.
129	129	Sec. 98C.002. LIABILITY. (a) A defendant who engages in
130	130	doxing, as that offense is defined under Section 22.13, Penal Code,
131	131	is liable, as provided by this chapter, for damages arising from the
132	132	posting of private personal information by the defendant, as
133	133	described by that section, to the person whose information was
134	134	posted.
135	135	Sec. 98C.003. DAMAGES. (a) A claimant who prevails in a
136	136	suit under this chapter shall be awarded:
137	137	(1) actual damages, including damages for mental
138	138	anguish even if an injury other than mental anguish is not shown;
139	139	(2) court costs; and
140	140	(3) reasonable attorney's fees.
141	141	(b) In addition to an award under Subsection (a), a claimant
142	142	who prevails in a suit under this chapter may recover exemplary
143	143	damages.
144	144	Sec. 98C.003. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. A court in which a suit is
145	145	brought under this chapter, on the motion of a party, may issue a
146	146	temporary restraining order or a temporary or permanent injunction
147	147	to restrain and prevent the disclosure or continued disclosure of a
148	148	party's private personal information.
149	149	Sec. 98C.004. CAUSE OF ACTION CUMULATIVE. The cause of
150	150	action created by this chapter is cumulative of any other remedy
151	151	provided by common law or statute.
152	152	Sec. 98C.005. JURISDICTION. A court has personal
153	153	jurisdiction over a defendant in a suit brought under this chapter
154	154	if:
155	155	(1) the defendant resides in this state;
156	156	(2) the person whose private personal information was
157	157	posted resides in this state;
158	158	(3) the private personal information is stored on a
159	159	server that is located in this state; or
160	160	(4) the private personal information is available for
161	161	view in this state.
162	162	Sec. 98C.006. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY. A person who is
163	163	found liable under this chapter is jointly and severally liable
164	164	with any other defendant for the entire amount of damages resulting
165	165	in whole or in part from the posting of private personal information
166	166	by the defendant.
167	167	Sec. 98C.007. LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION;
168	168	CERTAIN CONDUCT EXCEPTED. This chapter shall be liberally construed
169	169	and applied to promote its underlying purpose to protect persons
170	170	from, and provide adequate remedies to victims of, doxing.
171	171	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.