Arkansas is one of the latest states to take up legislation purporting to protect children on social media.  The Arkansas Senate is considering Senate Bills 611 and 612.

These bills are certain to face legal challenges, which will likely be successful based on other state precedent.  SB 611 and 612 are an extension of the same social media legislation that passed in 2023, which was recently blocked in the courts and cannot be enforced due to them being unconstitutional.

There are better for protecting kids on the internet.  The App Store Accountability Act, for example, would empower parents and take meaningful steps toward protecting children online.

SB 611 bans “addictive feeds” for minors but fails to define that term.  Absent any legal or medical consensus on what constitutes an “addictive feed,” the bill will be unenforceable.  The bill also imposes limitations on notifications during night hours, which several states have tried, only to seem them all blocked in court.

SB 611 also imposes penalties on app developers and companies for failing to perform age verification.  The age verification methods at the developer level for specific platforms almost certainly violate the First Amendment.

SB 612, meanwhile, seeks to prevent social media companies from using algorithms that lead to what the bill alleges are a variety of harms.  Social media companies use algorithms to tailor content.  If a user likes baseball and engages with related content, then they will see more of it.

What is lesser known is that algorithms are also a tool that helps keep kids safe.  When an algorithm flags that a user is a minor, the user is blocked from inappropriate content and advertising.  Banning algorithms altogether is not an effective answer to minors’ online safety.

One benefit of empowering parents with app store verification is that it addresses other potential harms, not just social media activity.  Some examples include apps that allow chats and/or video calls with strangers, ‘nudifying’ apps, apps with pornographic and/or violent content, etc.

Parents—not the government—should be in charge of deciding what is appropriate for their children online.  But parents currently lack the tools to remain involved in what content their kids engage with online.  App store developers already have all the information needed to verify ages. App store parental approval, like Utah’s App Store Accountability Act that was signed into law this year, is a model that that other state legislators should consider.