Last week, Representative Jennifer Benson joined House Judiciary Chairman Eugene L. O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea) and 50 other legislators in cosponsoring “An Act Further Defining the Dissemination of Obscene Material,” a bill that will update the law regarding the dissemination of harmful material to minors to include various types of electronic communications.    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled earlier in the month that electronic communications such as instant messages are not covered under the state’s criminal prohibition on the dissemination of harmful material to minors.

The bill filed February 11 seeks to update the law to include instant messages and other types of electronic communications in the definition of what constitutes “matter” harmful to children.

“The recent court decision made it clear that we need to update our laws to reflect current technology,” said Benson. “This bill ensures we can protect children from all forms of harmful material.”

Continuing, she said that an Act further defining the dissemination of obscene material, “would amend Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272, Section 31, which provides the definition of what matter is considered harmful to minors, and therefore is illegal to disseminate to minors under the dissemination statute, General Laws Chapter 272, Section 28. The legislation would update that definition by adding electronic communications, specifically: any electronic communication including but not limited to any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system.”