Online Bullying Laws Now In Full Effect for 2025 In Wisconsin

When it comes to social media, and gaming... most people hear the term "online bullying," they might imagine it as something relatively harmless—usually it's just a few hurtful comments, rude messages, or immature jokes like “your mom” insults. However, the reality of online harassment has grown far more serious in recent years. What once seemed like minor digital teasing has escalated into a much more dangerous and harmful trend, with individuals facing targeted threats, harassment campaigns, and even real-world consequences. Two particularly alarming forms of this are swatting and doxxing.

This new law kicked off at the start of 2024 and is now in full effect.

These acts can have devastating effects on victims' lives, putting their safety, mental health, and even their families at risk. As a result, law enforcement agencies are increasingly recognizing the seriousness of these crimes and are beginning to take stronger actions to prevent and respond to such incidents, with new policies and investigative efforts aimed at holding perpetrators accountable and protecting potential victims.

Massive Online bullying issues in America are much larger then just "bullying" They are legit crimes that are now being taken seriously. Doxxing and Swatting are the main focus of this law.

Doxxing In Wisconsin

Doxxing is the result of someone leaking all your private info onto the internet for others to see. The full answer is as follows,

Doxxing (also spelled “doxing”) is the act of revealing someone’s personal information online. Doxxing is a form of online harassment that means publicly exposing someone’s real name, address, job, or other identifying info without a victim’s consent. The aim of doxxing is to humiliate, bully, harass, or otherwise harm a victim.

The New Doxxing Law

Again, reports state that this law is nearly a year old now meaning there is no excuse for ignorance of it.

The Civil Liability for Doxxing Act (Public Act 103-0439) is a new anti-doxxing law recently passed in Illinois. While Governor Pritzker signed and approved the bill on August 4th, 2023, the law will not go into effect until January 1, 2024.