720 ILCS 5/26.5-2 – Harassment by Telephone

720 ILCS 5/26.5-2 – Harassment by Telephone

This law makes it illegal to use a phone to bother, threaten, or upset someone on purpose.

This Illinois law says a person can be punished for using a telephone to annoy, scare, or harass others through calls or messages. It also requires phone books to include a warning about this law and asks phone companies to help police stop this kind of behavior.

(a) A person commits harassment by telephone when they use the phone for any of these reasons:

1. To make comments or suggestions that are rude, dirty, or offensive, with the intent to upset or offend someone.
2. To call someone with the intent to threaten, insult, or bother them, even if no one talks during the call.
3. To make someone’s phone ring over and over again on purpose to annoy them.
4. To keep calling and talking to someone just to bother them.
5. To call or make someone else call a child under 13 years old to harass them, if the person doing this is at least 16 years old, even if the child says it’s okay.
6. To knowingly let someone use your phone to do any of the things listed above.

(b) Every phone book given to the public must include a warning that explains this law. The warning has to use letters at least as big as the other words on the page and must start with the word “WARNING.”

All phone companies in Illinois must work with the police to help find and stop people who break this law.

View the full statute here.

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