Arkansas almost became the second state to implement restrictions on children’s social media usage with Act 689, also known as the Social Media Safety Act. This social media age verification law mandated age verification and parental consent for users under 18 when creating new social media accounts. However, a federal judge permanently blocked the law in March 2025, ruling it unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment by imposing overly broad and vague restrictions on protected speech. Despite initial legislative support, ongoing legal challenges have prevented the law from being enforced. But since many US states are in the process of enforcing or considering implementing similar laws, let’s analyze Arkansas Act 689 and its possible implications.
Key Requirements of Act 689
The original Act 689 had the following age verification requirements.
Age Verification:
Platforms were mandated to contract with third-party vendors to perform age verification checks on all new users, including minors, as well as social media users with existing social media accounts.
Verification methods included digitized identification cards such as driver’s licenses or any government ID, as well as any commercially reasonable age verification method.
Parental Consent:
For users under 18, platforms must have obtained explicit parental consent to open an account.
Data Retention:
Third-party vendors and platforms were prohibited from retaining any identifying information after access to the social media platform had been granted.
Violations of this Arkansas law were meant to result in fines of $2,500 per offense, along with court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees or damages if a minor accesses a social media platform without parental consent.
The Social Media Safety Act aimed at safeguarding kids’ social media usage from potentially harmful effects. Yet, the critics who argued that the Act raised issues related to privacy and censoring free speech online managed to overthrow this law.
Age Verification Regulations Around the World
Viable Age Verification Methods
ID-based Age Verification
ID-based age verification follows steps similar to identity verification. Users must provide an identity document and a selfie for biometric comparison to ensure secure verification. With Ondato’s age verification system, this process is straightforward, takes less than 60 seconds, and maintains zero fraud tolerance.
Age Estimation
Age estimation tools minimize the need for identity documents by using biometric data to categorize users into age groups. Ondato’s system can onboard most users without additional documents, requiring IDs only if there are uncertainties, allowing for the perfect solution to protect children online as well as address the critics’ privacy concerns.
Entities Required to Comply
The Act was meant to apply to social media companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue. The Act defined “social media company” as an online forum allowing account holders to:
- Create public profiles, establish accounts, or register for social interactions.
- Upload or create posts or content.
- View posts or content from other account holders.
- Interact with other users, including forming mutual connections.
Exclusions to the Social Media Safety Act
The Act was set not to be applied to:
- Media companies offering subscription content without a primary focus on social interaction.
- Platforms exclusively providing interactive gaming, virtual gaming, or services related to gaming and entertainment.
- Services or applications that offer email or direct messaging.
- Online shopping or e-commerce sites with limited user interaction.
- Providers of preselected content (news, sports, entertainment) with incidental interactive features.
- Companies offering cloud storage, enterprise cybersecurity services, educational devices, or collaboration tools for K-12 schools.
- Companies deriving less than 25% of their revenue from social media platforms, including games and advertising.
- Platforms providing career development opportunities, professional networking, job skills, learning certifications, and job posting services.
- Services streaming licensed media continuously without obtaining licenses from users.
Final thoughts
Arkansas’ age verification legislation sought to safeguard children on social media through stringent age verification and parental consent requirements. Although Act 689 was blocked, it is important to note that other states, including Utah, Louisiana, Texas, and California, have enacted similar laws designed to limit the accessibility of social media by young people. That is why social media companies should prepare to implement reasonable age verification measures.
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