Regulation

Arkansas Governor signs social media regulation bill

KUAR | By Josie Lenora

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders continues to sign bills passed earlier this year by the Arkansas General Assembly. On Tuesday, she signed into law the “Social Media Safety Act” which aims to prevent underage children in Arkansas from setting up social media accounts without obtaining parental permission.

“As a parent, this is a very personal thing,” Sanders said. “I have a ten-year-old, a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old.” The governor said she was concerned about the increase in depression among teenagers, and that the bill was the start of “great steps in protecting the young people of Arkansas.”

The law also requires adult social media users in Arkansas to provide a digital copy of their ID for purposes of age verification. That only applies to new accounts and is not applicable to companies like Amazon and Google which would not qualify as social media under the act.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-04-13/arkansas-governor-signs-social-media-regulation-bill