WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 279 into law Wednesday in Winter Haven, Florida.

The measure, otherwise known as the swatting bill, provides for enhanced criminal penalties in relation to using emergency communications services which “results in great bodily harm, permanent disfigurement, permanent disability or death.”

An analysis of the bill prepared by the Florida House of Representatives said the new law prohibits a person from causing another party to access the 911 system for the purpose of making a false alarm or creating a false complaint. That’s a process more commonly known as swatting. That term refers to incidents when someone maliciously calls emergency services to someone else’s location.

The Florida Legislature passed the bill during their recent session.

DeSantis said those calls create a hazard for everyone and can even turn deadly.

“There’s nothing there. There are people there that are innocent. Law enforcement doesn’t know that. They think it’s a serious call, so they’re going with that in mind. You get woken up or something and react and someone’s breaking into your house for no reason. You know, you don’t know that it’s police, you can then do something. So it creates a really, really serious risk.”

The anti-swatting measures will go into effect July 1.