That protection now includes making it against the law for any student to use a computer or computer network "with the intent to intimidate or torment a school employee" by doing the following, including:
Building a fake online profile or website
Posting or encouraging others to "post on the Internet private, personal, or sexual information pertaining to a school employee."
Posting a real "or doctored" image online of the school employee.
Accessing, altering or erasing "any computer network, computer data, computer program, or computer software, including breaking into a password-protected account or stealing or otherwise accessing passwords."
Using a computer for "repeated, continuing, or sustained electronic communications, including electronic mail or other transmissions, to a school employee."
Making any statement, "whether true or false" that's intended to "immediately provoke" anyone to "stalk or harass a school employee."
Signing up a school employee for a pornographic website "with the intent to intimidate or torment the employee."
The law makes it a misdemeanor to do these acts, and if a student is found guilty, he or she could face up to a $1,000 fine, jail time and possibly being transferred to another school.
The ACLU in North Carolina opposed the legislation, as it was written.
"We expressed our concerns that this would chill online free speech because the words 'intimidate' and 'torment' weren't defined in the statute, and don't really have a clear definition in the law," said Sarah Preston, policy director for the ACLU in North Carolina.