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To: Judiciary, Division A;
Judiciary, Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Norwood
SENATE BILL NO. 2358
AN ACT TO REQUIRE A COURT OF ORIGINAL JURISDICTION TO ISSUE 1
AN INJUNCTION WHERE A PLAINTIFF DEMONSTRATES THE VIOLATION OF A 2
SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY'S COMMUNITY STANDARDS OR POLICIES BY A 3
DEFENDANT'S COMMUNICATIONS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY'S PLATFORM; 4
TO AUTHORIZE THE COURT OF ORIGINAL JURISDICTION TO ENJOIN THE 5
DEFENDANT, ANY SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY THAT DISTRIBUTES, HOSTS OR 6
DISSEMINATES THE DEFENDANT'S COMMUNICATION, OR ANY CORPORATE 7
SPONSOR OF THE DEFENDANT; TO AUTHORIZE THE COURT OF ORIGINAL 8
JURISDICTION TO CONSIDER THE FILING OF CRIMINAL CHARGES RELATED TO 9
THE COMMUNICATIONS TO BE ENJOINED AS A FACTOR IN DETERMINING 10
WHETHER THE DEFENDANT HAS VIOLATED A SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY'S 11
COMMUNITY STANDARDS OR POLICIES; TO PROVIDE THAT A CRIMINAL 12
CONVICTION RELATED TO THE COMMUNICATIONS THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF 13
THE PETITION SHALL BE SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO MERIT THE ISSUANCE OF 14
A PERMANENT INJUNCTION UNDER THIS SECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 15
97-45-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE THE TERM "HARASS"; 16
AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 17
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 18
SECTION 1. (1) In accordance with the procedure established 19
in the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, a court of original 20
jurisdiction shall issue an injunction when a plaintiff 21
demonstrates, by a preponderance of the evidence, the violation of 22
a social media company's community standards or policies by the 23
defendant's communications on the social media company's platform. 24
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(2) In its discretion, the court shall determine the scope 25
and duration of the injunction necessary and may issue it against 26
any combination of the following: 27
(a) The defendant who made the communication; 28
(b) Any social media company that distributes, hosts or 29
disseminates a defendant's communications; or 30
(c) Any corporate sponsor of the defendant or the 31
defendant's communications, if the court makes a finding that 32
enjoining the corporate sponsor would be in the interest of 33
justice. 34
(3) A court may consider whether criminal charges have been 35
filed against the defendant pursuant to Section 97-45-15 related 36
to the communication to be enjoined as a factor in determining 37
whether the defendant's communications violated a social media 38
company's community standards or policies. 39
(4) A criminal conviction against the defendant pursuant to 40
Section 97-45-15 related to the communication to be enjoined shall 41
be sufficient evidence to merit the issuance of a permanent 42
injunction under this section as to the communications that 43
provided the basis for the conviction. 44
(5) The Supreme Court's Rules Committee on Civil Practice 45
and Procedure is encouraged to develop and issue a uniform form to 46
implement this section. 47
(6) This section shall not be construed to impose any 48
liability on an internet service provider, affiliate or subsidiary 49
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of an internet service provider, search engine, or cloud service 50
provider which solely provides access or connection to or from a 51
website or other information or content on the internet or a 52
facility, system, or network not under that provider's control, 53
including transmission, downloading, storage, providing access, or 54
other to the extent such provider is not responsible for the 55
creation of the content of any communications described under this 56
section. 57
SECTION 2. Section 97-45-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 58
amended as follows: 59
97-45-15. (1) It is unlawful for a person to: 60
(a) Use in electronic mail or electronic communication 61
any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any 62
person or to that person's child, sibling, spouse or dependent, or 63
physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose 64
of extorting money or other things of value from any person. 65
(b) Electronically mail or electronically communicate 66
to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, * * * 67
with the intent to threaten, terrify or harass any person. 68
(c) Electronically mail or electronically communicate 69
to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning 70
death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or 71
criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any 72
member of the person's family or household with the intent to 73
threaten, terrify or harass. 74
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(d) Knowingly permit an electronic communication device 75
under the person's control to be used for any purpose prohibited 76
by this section. 77
(2) Whoever commits the offense of cyberstalking shall be 78
punished, upon conviction: 79
(a) Except as provided herein, the person is guilty of 80
a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than two (2) 81
years or a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars 82
($5,000.00), or both. 83
(b) If any of the following apply, the person is guilty 84
of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) 85
years or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars 86
($10,000.00), or both: 87
(i) The offense is in violation of a restraining 88
order and the person has received actual notice of that 89
restraining order or posting the message is in violation of an 90
injunction or preliminary injunction. 91
(ii) The offense is in violation of a condition of 92
probation, a condition of parole, a condition of pretrial release 93
or a condition of release on bond pending appeal. 94
(iii) The offense results in a credible threat 95
being communicated to the victim, a member of the victim's family, 96
or another individual living in the same household as the victim. 97
(iv) The person has been previously convicted of 98
violating this section or a substantially similar law of another 99
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ST: Cyberstalking; authorize injunction when
criminal charges filed.
state, a political subdivision of another state, or of the United 100
States. 101
(3) For the purposes of this section, "harass" refers to a 102
knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific 103
person that a reasonable person would consider as seriously 104
alarming, seriously annoying, seriously tormenting, or seriously 105
terrorizing the person and that serves no legitimate purpose. 106
( * * *4) This section does not apply to any peaceable, 107
nonviolent, or nonthreatening activity intended to express 108
political views or to provide lawful information to others. This 109
section shall not be construed to impair any constitutionally 110
protected activity, including speech, protest or assembly.111
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 112
and after July 1, 2026. 113