Arkansas SB 66 (Age Verification)
Arkansas, United States- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- Became Law
Arkansas's 2023 adult-content age check, Act 612, enforced entirely by private lawsuits.
Latest update
Took effect
Current position
In force
What it does
Arkansas SB 66, enacted as Act 612, makes any commercial site where more than a third of the content is harmful to minors verify a visitor is 18 with a digitized ID or a commercial age-check service. There is no state agency enforcement; an individual harmed by a site letting a minor through can sue for damages, costs, and attorney fees.
Why it matters
Arkansas passed this the same session it passed its social media age law, so the state hit adult sites and mainstream platforms in one run. For a user, the adult-site half still means proving identity to reach legal content.
Our take
Arkansas built the porn-site age check on the private-lawsuit model everyone was copying in 2023, then went further than most states on social media the same year. It is one of the clearest cases of a legislature treating age verification as a whole-internet project.
Timeline
Took effect
LatestSigned into law (Act 612)
Sponsors
Sen. Tyler Dees, Rep. Mindy McAlindon
Votes
- Senate — Passed (34 to 1) · March 29, 2023
- House — Passed (77 to 4) · March 14, 2023