Florida Cyberbullying Laws: Penalties, Schools, and Injunctions

Florida cyberbullying laws attack the problem from two directions at once. Repeated electronic harassment is a crime under the state’s stalking statute, punishable by jail or prison time. Separately, every public school district must investigate and discipline cyberbullying under the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, even when it happens on a personal phone off campus. Victims can also petition a court for an injunction that orders the harasser to stop all contact, without waiting on police or prosecutors.

What Counts as Cyberbullying Under Florida Law

There is no standalone cyberbullying crime in Florida. The behavior is prosecuted as cyberstalking under Florida Statute 784.048, which covers a pattern of electronic communication directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. The messages can be words, images, or any other content sent through email, social media, text, or similar channels.¹

The statute also reaches someone who accesses another person’s online accounts or internet-connected home systems without permission, as long as the access causes substantial emotional distress and has no legitimate purpose. Logging into an ex-partner’s social media to post humiliating content, for example, can qualify as cyberstalking on its own.¹

Two elements matter. The harassment must be repeated: a single cruel message, however vile, isn’t cyberstalking. The statute requires a “course of conduct,” meaning a pattern of acts over time showing a continuity of purpose. And the conduct must serve no legitimate purpose. A journalist investigating someone or a creditor sending payment reminders doesn’t qualify, even if the recipient finds the contact distressing.

Criminal Penalties for Cyberstalking

The base cyberstalking offense is a first-degree misdemeanor. It applies when someone repeatedly harasses another person electronically without making a credible threat. A conviction carries up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.¹²

The charge becomes aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony, in three situations:

The person makes a credible threat that puts the victim in reasonable fear for their safety or the safety of their family. The threat can be verbal, nonverbal, or implied by a pattern of behavior, and prosecutors do not have to prove the person intended to carry it out.¹
The victim is a child under 16, regardless of whether any explicit threat was made.¹
The cyberstalking violates an existing court order, such as a stalking injunction, a domestic violence injunction, or any other order prohibiting contact.¹

A third-degree felony conviction carries up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $5,000.³² A felony record also means loss of the right to vote until restored, loss of the right to possess a firearm, and a permanent record that shows up on employment and housing background checks.

School Discipline Under the Jeffrey Johnston Act

The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, Florida Statute 1006.147, operates on a different standard than the criminal statute. It defines bullying as systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on students, and it explicitly includes cyberbullying carried out through any form of technology or electronic communication.⁴

That broader definition catches online behavior that would never meet the criminal threshold. Classmates mocking a student relentlessly in a group chat, spreading rumors through social media, or coordinating to exclude someone from online groups can all qualify as bullying under the Act even when no single message is criminal.

Every Florida public school district must adopt an anti-bullying policy that defines bullying and harassment, provides a procedure for reporting (including anonymous reports), sets out an investigation process, and spells out consequences for violations.⁴ Consequences vary by district and can run from detention and in-school suspension up to expulsion. One limitation to know: a school cannot base formal discipline solely on an anonymous report. Anonymous tips can start an investigation, but the school needs corroborating evidence before imposing consequences.

Off-Campus Cyberbullying

School authority does not stop at the campus boundary. If cyberbullying happens through a personal device or from home but substantially interferes with the victim’s ability to participate in or benefit from school, or substantially disrupts the school’s operations, the district has jurisdiction to investigate and discipline the student responsible. This provision covers most cyberbullying, since the harassment typically happens on personal phones and social media accounts outside school hours.⁴

Getting a Stalking Injunction

Florida gives cyberstalking victims a civil tool that works independently of any criminal case. Under Florida Statute 784.0485, you can petition the court for an injunction that orders the harasser to stop all contact. You don’t need the police to act first, and the standard of proof is lower than in a criminal prosecution. The statute explicitly covers cyberstalking.⁵

You file a verified petition in the circuit court in the county where you live, where the respondent lives, or where the stalking occurred. A parent or legal guardian can file on behalf of a minor child living at home. There is no filing fee.⁶ A judge can issue a temporary injunction immediately, without notifying the other person first; it lasts up to 15 days and takes effect once the respondent is served. A full hearing follows, and if the judge grants a final injunction, it stays in place until the court modifies or dissolves it. There is no automatic expiration.⁵

Violating the injunction is not just contempt of court. Cyberstalking someone while an order is in place automatically elevates the offense to aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony.

Reporting and Preserving Evidence

Where to report depends on what’s happening. Conduct that meets the criminal definition — repeated electronic harassment causing substantial emotional distress, or a credible threat — goes to local law enforcement, meaning your city police department or county sheriff’s office. If the victim is a student and the behavior affects school life, also report to the principal or a guidance counselor so the district can open its own investigation under the anti-bullying policy. You can pursue both paths at the same time; a school investigation and a criminal investigation are independent processes with different standards, and one does not substitute for the other. Parents of both the victim and the accused student must be notified by the school about the incident and the outcome of any investigation.⁴

Online evidence disappears fast. Messages get deleted, accounts go dark, posts vanish. Start preserving evidence the moment the harassment begins, before you report anything.

Screenshot everything, capturing the sender’s username or phone number, the content, and the date and time. Include the URL for anything on a website or social media platform.
When possible, download or export the actual conversation. Native files carry metadata that screenshots alone don’t.
Keep a written log of every incident with date, time, platform, and content. The log helps establish the “course of conduct” element the statute requires.
Don’t engage. Save everything but avoid replying, since responses can complicate the case.

When the Offender Is a Juvenile

When the cyberbully is a minor, the case typically moves through Florida’s juvenile justice system rather than adult criminal court. The same criminal statutes apply, but the proceedings look different: instead of a criminal trial, a state attorney files a petition for delinquency, and a judge decides consequences based on the seriousness of the offense and the juvenile’s treatment needs.

Outcomes range from diversion programs and community service to probation or placement in a secure juvenile facility. If a juvenile charged with stalking is held in secure detention and later released, detention staff must immediately notify law enforcement, school personnel, and the victim. For particularly serious cases involving older teens, prosecutors can seek to try the juvenile as an adult, though this is uncommon in cyberstalking cases that don’t involve physical violence.

When Federal Law Applies

Most cyberbullying cases stay in the state system. Federal law comes into play when the harassment crosses state lines. Under 18 U.S.C. 2261A, it is a federal crime to use the internet or any electronic communication service to engage in a course of conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or that causes or would reasonably be expected to cause substantial emotional distress.⁷ A separate federal statute, 18 U.S.C. 875, makes it a crime to transmit threats to injure someone across state lines, carrying up to five years in federal prison.⁸ Federal penalties for stalking are generally harsher than Florida’s.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 784.048 (2025) – Stalking; Definitions; Penalties
2
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 775.083 (2025) – Fines
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 1006.147 – Bullying and Harassment Prohibited
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 784.0485 (2025) – Stalking; Injunction
6
Florida Courts. Stalking Injunction Petition Form 12.980(t)
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261A – Stalking
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 875 – Interstate Communications