Judge Declines to Undo Block of Arkansas' Social Media Safety Act
A federal judge will not change or amend an earlier ruling that permanently enjoined an Arkansas social media safety act, according to a court document filed Wednesday.
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Judge Timothy Brooks said Arkansas was unsuccessful in identifying a manifest error of law when the state asked the U.S. District Court for Western Arkansas to alter the ruling at the end of April (see 2504290036).
The 2023 law, The Social Media Safety Act, requires users of social media platforms to verify their age, as they must be at least 18 to access platforms without parental consent. The district court enjoined the Arkansas statute on March 31, agreeing with NetChoice's challenge that it violates the First and 14th Amendments.
Judge Brooks said Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) picked "subsections of the Act that he claims the Court should not have enjoined and asks the Court to modify its Judgment accordingly." That "would require the Court to find that those portions of Act 689 are severable from the unconstitutional portions." Not only did Griffin "not make this argument in any filing prior," the argument fails, Brooks added.
Shortly after Brooks enjoined the law in April, Griffin appealed case 23-05105 to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (see 2504300051).
On June 2, NetChoice said Griffin's plea to overturn the ruling must “be rejected out of hand,” (see 2506020043).