Arkansas Governor Signs Social Media Age Verification Bill

On April 12, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed SB 396, the Social Media Safety Act, which advanced out of the state legislature on April 6, 2023. SB 396 will take effect on September 1, 2023.

SB 396 requires social media companies, through independent, thirty party contractors, to verify the ages of new users and require those younger than 18 to seek parental permission to open an account. To verify their age, users would upload a digital copy of their driver’s license, government-issued ID or “any commercially reasonable age verification method.” Unlike a similar law enacted in Utah, SB 396 does not prohibit the display of advertising in a minor’s social media account.

The bill will only be directed towards large social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, as it exempts companies that generate less than $100 million in annual revenue. Specifically not exempted are companies that allow a user to “generate short video clips of dancing, voice overs, or other acts of entertainment in which the primary purpose is not educational or informative.” Notably, there is no floor to the number of Arkansas users which triggers age verification, so a social media company with any amount of Arkansas users is subject to the age-verification requirements.

A last minute amendment included in the law seems to exempt Google, as it exempts companies that offer educational “enterprise collaboration tools” for kindergarten through grade 12, and that derive less than 25% of total company revenue from operating a social platform. Also exempted are email providers and companies that provide direct messaging services, streaming, online shopping, news, sports, entertainment websites or “other content that is pre-selected by the provider and not user-generated.” Companies whose “primary purpose is not social interaction,” such as LinkedIn, are also exempted. 

Social media companies which don’t comply with the bill’s stipulations would be opened up to private right of action litigation, and face fines of $2,500 plus attorneys fees for each violation.The big technology platforms are likely to develop tools for digital advertisers to address these changes.

Opponents of SB 396’s restrictions have said the age verification measures raise privacy concerns, noting that it would require any user to verify their age. Critics also say that laws requiring age verification to access media run afoul of the First Amendment, given that age verification procedures effectively abolish online anonymity. Earlier this month, the 4As, along with its sister advertising trade associations, submitted an opposition letter to Arkansas SB 396, citing our belief that the bill will impose particularly onerous requirements on entities doing business in the state, will infringe upon protected speech for minors, and will unnecessarily impede Arkansas minors and adults from receiving helpful services and accessing useful information online.

SB 396 is similar to a controversial, first-in-the-nation law that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed in March 2023. Utah’s SB 152 additionally requires that parents have access to their teens’ accounts, imposes a curfew, and bans all ads for minors on social media platforms. Similar bills to Arkansas SB 396 have also been proposed in Connecticut and Ohio, where the legislation would require a guardian’s consent for minors younger than 16 to have accounts. A bill in Texas would completely ban social media access for children under the age of 18, regardless of parental consent. 

Both the Utah law and Arkansas legislation are expected to be challenged in court. 

Have questions about Arkansas SB 396 or children’s advertising issues? Please contact Alison Pepper, 4As EVP of Government Relations and Sustainability.