Arkansas passed a bill that will prevent minors from having a profile on various social networks without parental consent. This mandate, which will take effect on September 1, will allow companies that fail to comply with the rule to be punished with fines of up to $2,500 per incident.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Senate Bill 396 into law on Wednesday. The rule requires social networking companies with more than $100 million in revenue, to implement systems whereby a user's age can be verified before a new account is created. A measure implemented to prevent social networks from exploiting "kids for profit":
For years, social media companies have gotten away with exploiting kids for profit.
Not anymore.
I signed a new law today requiring social media companies to verify the age of all new Arkansas users — and if an account holder is under 18, they’ll need parental permission. pic.twitter.com/k0WO8438wM
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) April 13, 2023
If the person is a minor, the bill states, "parental consent will be required." Moreover, social media companies "shall verify the age of an account holder." And, if a minor, the company "shall confirm that a minor has consent under subsection (a) of this section."
Sex crimes are more frequent in social networks
There are exceptions to the law. As Just the News reports, the rule does not affect other companies such as Google or Amazon, but is specifically aimed at social media platforms. It is in these companies, assured the bill's main sponsor, Senator Tyler Dees, where more sex crimes have been registered: "Today the problem is one-third of all sexual crimes from an online situation are stemming from a social media interaction."
A statement with which Governor Huckabee Sanders concurred. She assured, minutes before signing the bill, that platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Twitter could be harmful to minors: "While social media can be a great tool and a wonderful resource, it can have a massive negative impact on our kids."
The detractors of this law consider that, far from protecting minors, the law infringes on the privacy of users. Jason Kelley, acting director of activism at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told AP:
The governor and the legislators who voted for this bill must not understand the harm it will cause to the privacy and free speech rights of the people they represent, because if they did, I don’t think they could pass it in good conscience.
Something that not only Sarah Huckabee Sanders does not agree with. Utah Governor, Spencer Cox, last month passed a law similar to that of Arkansas'. The bill will prevent minors in the state from creating a profile on social networks without parental approval. In addition, as in The Nature State, they will fine non-compliant companies $2,500 per incident.
