Last week, a federal judge ruled to strike down the Social Media Safety Act (Act 689) – the Arkansas online age verification digital ID law – having concluded that some of its provisions were unconstitutionally vague and in violation of the First Amendment.
Representatives of the tech industry group NetChoice, which led the legal charge against Act 689, welcomed the decision, with litigation director Chris Marchese stating that it “protects Americans from having to hand over their IDs or biometric data just to access constitutionally protected speech online.”
However, a new proposal arrived soon after – Senate Bill 611 (SB 611). It was introduced in the Arkansas Senate by state Republicans to amend Act 689, as a way to address the constitutional concerns raised in US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks’ ruling.
The Social Media Safety Act of 2023 was promoted and adopted as a measure to protect minors from online harms. But Judge Brooks found that “Rather than targeting content that is harmful to minors, Act 689 simply impedes access to content writ large.”
SB 611 changes the original legislation with a new definition of a minor – previously a person 18 and under, now 16 and under – as well as the legal definition of social media platforms that are required to comply. But it continues to require that platforms implement “reasonable” age verification methods.
These methods include access to digital IDs or biometric data. VPN users are also in the crosshairs of the new proposal, as it would have platforms introduce age checks of residents of Arkansas accessing social media “while otherwise known or believed to be” in the state – and this would cover the use of VPNs.
Other changes limit the bill’s provisions only to new accounts, and ban platforms from algorithmic targeting of minors, while non-compliance would be penalized with fines.
SB 612 was introduced along with SB 611 as companion legislation that allows parents to sue social media companies in case their child commits or attempts suicide, or experiences mental or physical health harm because of exposure to online content “promoting, or otherwise advancing, self-harm or suicide.”
Some reports about SB 611 and its key requirements view it as part of a wider push in Arkansas that includes mobile state IDs and digital driver’s licenses, which have been recently introduced and provide for “infrastructure” that would be used by platforms to verify a user’s age.
