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H73 • 2025

An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet

An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet

Technology
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Tackey Chan
Last action
2025-11-03
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H4678
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet

An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet By Representative Chan of Quincy, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet By Representative Chan of Quincy, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 73) of Tackey Chan relative to filing actions of slander against anonymous parties on the internet.
  • Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-11-03 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H4678

  2. 2025-03-24 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 04/09/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1

  3. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity

  4. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to filing slander against anonymous parties on the internet
By Representative Chan of Quincy, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 73) of Tackey Chan relative to filing actions of slander against anonymous parties on the internet. Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity.

Current Bill Text

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Bill H.73

Section 91 of Chapter 231 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:-

A plaintiff with the intent of filing against a defendant under this section, but is unable to do so because of a lack of a real name of the person committing the act and said real name is being held by a third party who provides the forum, which includes, but not limited to, paper, Internet and Telecommunications, by which the defendant is able to commit such an act.

The third party shall release the name, address and relative contact information to the plaintiff within ten days of the plaintiff’s request; provided that the plaintiff states the intent is the file an action against the defendant under this section.

Should the third party not comply with the plaintiff’s request, the plaintiff may seek a court order from district court, seeking the third party to release the information, so the plaintiff can initiate a filing against a defendant.

The district court may impose penalties for non-compliance of a court order on the third party if there is no compliance.

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