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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.
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