A Bit Overbroad?

Sometimes good intentions do not cover up the fact that statutes can cover just about anything under the sun. Take Tennessee's harassment statute, 39-17-308, for example. It protects people from being threatened or harassed, and House Bill 300 (2011) made some amendments so that the law applies to social networks, among other changes. Great, right?

Here's the effect of some of the language. "A person commits an offense who intentionally . . . communicates with another person by [telephone, in writing, or electronically] without legitimate purpose, with the malicious intent to frighten [and] as a result . . . the person is frightened."

So you post a picture on YouTube calculated to scare people - just for the heck of it, since you like to scare people. Sounds like you have committed a crime if someone in Tennessee sees the image and gets scared! They wanted to cover all their bases, but they managed to cover a few more bases than they had planned.