Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On April 12, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law S.B. 396 creating the state’s Social Media Safety Act (the “Act”). The Act comes after Utah’s similar social media laws enacted in March.

The Act prohibits social media companies from allowing Arkansas residents under 18 years of age from holding accounts on the companies’ social media platforms without parental consent, and requires the companies to verify the age of account holders. To verify a user’s age, social media companies must engage a third-party vendor to perform “reasonable age verification,” which includes checking a user’s government-issued identification or a digitized identification card. 

The Act will apply to social media companies that operate social media platforms and have at least $100 million in annual revenue. The Act defines “social media company” as an online forum that allows account holders to (1) create accounts for the primary purpose of interacting socially with other accounts, (2) create posts or content, (3) view posts or content of other account holders, and (4) interact with other users. “Social media company” does not include certain online companies that provide gaming and subscription-only services, cloud services, professional networking services, and companies that derive less than 25 percent of their revenue from operating a social media platform. 

The Act provides for enforcement by the Arkansas Attorney General, as well as a private right of action to recover a penalty of $2,500 per violation, in addition to fees and damages ordered by a court. The Act will take effect on September 1, 2023.