Arkansas’ second attempt at regulating minor’s access to social media – in the form of the Social Media Safety Act (SB 689) – has again been struck down as unconstitutional. The court permanently enjoined the state from enforcing the law. It was a modified version of Arkansas’ 2023 SB 396, that was also blocked. The plaintiff in both challenges was NetChoice, a group familiar to anyone following kids’ social media laws. As a result of NetChoice’s efforts, similar laws have been blocked in California, Utah, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas. Courts in those states, as in Arkansas, found that the laws were unduly burdensome on free speech, with overly broad content restrictions not tailored to prevent harm to minors.
Like prior social media laws, the Arkansas Social Media Safety Act would have required social media companies to verify that users were at least 18 years old. Or obtain verifiable parental consent for the minor to create an account. Companies that did not implement such checks would face monetary penalties. Social media companies would also have been required to use third-party vendors to perform reasonable age verification, which can include digitized identification cards, government-issued identification, or any commercially reasonable method. Social media companies would also have been prohibited from retaining any identifying information after access to the platform has been granted.
The story on children’s privacy and social media does not end here. States have continued to pass laws attempting to regulate kids’ use of social media. The Virginia legislature is seeking to amend the state’s data privacy law to restrict 16 year olds to one hour of social media use a day, along with requiring age screening mechanisms. The amendment is awaiting signature. Arkansas has also rolled out additional legislation targeting social media companies and children. Utah recently implemented app store age limits, with effective dates under the law ranging from May 2025 to December 2026. And Texas – despite prior social media challenges – has introduced House Bill 186. If passed, the law would require age verification to create accounts. Florida has also introduced legislation (SB 868) that would, among other things, permit law enforcement to view messages relevant to an investigation, allow parents to read all messages in a minor’s account, and prohibit minors from using accounts that have “disappearing” messages.
Putting it into Practice: While these laws have not thus far been successful, state legislatures continue to propose laws to regulate kids’ use of social media. We anticipate this flurry continuing, both from state law makers as well as efforts to push back on overly broad provisions.