Senate Committee Passes Bill Requiring Age Verification, Parental Consent for Social Media Access

On Tuesday the Senate Insurance and Commerce Committee passed a bill that would help protect minors in Arkansas from accessing social media sites without parental consent.

S.B. 396, the Social Media Safety Act, by Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) and Rep. Jon Eubanks (R – Paris) says that social media companies must verify users’ ages and cannot grant minors access to the social media platform without parental consent.

The bill contains protections for user privacy. A social media company that violated the law could be held liable.

More and more, social media platforms simply are not a place for children — at least, not without parental supervision.

Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has published an analysis determining that social media is a major cause of mental illness in girls.

As he wrote, “The hours girls spent each day on Instagram were taken from sleep, exercise, and time with friends and family. What did we think would happen to them?”

On the TikTok platform — which is very popular with youth — The New York Times reports that teen users developed tics similar to Tourette’s syndrome during COVID lockdowns.

Researchers are still analyzing the reasons why, but the consensus seems to be that this was a social contagion that spread online at a time when some teens were using social media more than ever.

In December, news outlets reported how TikTok’s algorithm was suggesting videos that promoted self-harm and eating disorders to teenagers.

A recent CDC report found 16% of high school students were electronically bullied in 2021 through texting, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media platforms.

The list goes on.

Legislation like S.B. 396 would help parents and social media companies protect children from harmful content online.

The bill now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for consideration.