• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 24, 2023

Citing free-speech concerns, civil liberties groups are urging a federal judge to block an Arkansas law that requires most large platforms to verify users' ages and prevent minors from maintaining accounts without parental consent.

The new law “will rob people of anonymity, deter privacy- and security-minded users, and block some individuals from accessing the largest social media platforms at all,” the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation argue in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Brooks in Fayetteville.

“Imposing a parental consent requirement on access for young people will impermissibly burden their rights to access information and express themselves online, stigmatize the use of social media, and run counter to the parental authority of parents who do not object to their kids using social media,” the groups add.

They are weighing in on Arkansas Senate Bill 396, which was passed earlier this year -- and unless blocked by the courts, will take effect in September.

The law's restrictions apply to most social-media platforms that are controlled by companies with more than $100 million in annual revenue, but a last-minute amendment appears to have exempted Google.

The tech industry group NetChoice is suing to block the law, arguing that it violates the First Amendment.

That group noted that laws attempting to prevent minors from accessing other content -- including books, movies, video games, and the internet -- have been invalidated.

NetChoice notes in its court papers that the Supreme Court in 2011 struck down a California law that banned the sale of violent video games to minors, without parental consent. The court said in that case that minors have First Amendment rights to access non-obscene material.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation also call attention to prior decisions that blocked laws requiring parental consent to access a range of content -- including video games and the internet.

“The Supreme Court has, time and again, struck down legislation seeking to protect kids from purportedly dangerous new mediums,” the groups write.

They also say the age verification mandate “will burden users who do not have government identification, who want to engage in anonymous speech or are otherwise concerned about privacy and security.”

Texas and Utah also recently enacted laws aimed at regulating teens' social media use, but the Arkansas statute is slated to go into effect first.