The Arkansas Senate approved a bill April 6 that will require social media users in Arkansas to verify their age when creating a new social media account. 

SB396, sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees (R-Siloam Springs), is on its way to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s desk. If she signs it, it is expected to become law in September. 

The bill was introduced as the Social Media Safety Act, and was amended to erase concerns from certain senate members about the effect the bill would have on current media users by clarifying that it would apply to any and all social media accounts made only after the bill goes into effect. 

Dees spoke at length about the bill being a way to take action against pedophiles who use social media platforms as a way to groom children. 

“The heart of it is to protect children,” Dees said. 

All social media users under 18 will have to have parental permission before obtaining access to a site. It will require social media companies to use third-party companies to execute age verification on new users. 

The bill specifies that it only applies to companies that procure 25% of revenue from operating a social media platform, making YouTube exempt. How the new law will affect platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which share the same parent company, Meta, is yet to be seen.

The bill comes after a series of legislation the Arkansas Legislature passed with stated intentions to protect Arkansas youth. One was Act 372, which makes librarians criminally liable for knowingly distributing explicit reading materials. 

Some senate members are more against the bill than others, like Sen. Ricky Hill (R-Cabot), who called it a “communist China bill” and said decisions about a child’s social media use should solely be left up to parents to handle.

Sanders showed public support for the Social Media Safety Act in a March 9 news conference.

“This legislation would open up the ability for parents to hold social media companies accountable,” Sanders said.

Dees said, “We’re seeing a culture that’s eroding, and it’s happening online, so we will no longer allow harmful material online. We will empower our parents through this act.”

The public has reacted both positively and negatively to the bill, with many agreeing with Sen. Hill about how the legislature is “stepping on parents’ toes” and making decisions for them instead of giving them the right to choose for their own children. 

More about how the bill will operate with third-party companies will be discussed in the upcoming months.