Arkansas

Rising Star

Arkansas at a glance

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been vocal about the urgent need to roll back the phone-based childhood and protect kids online, and Attorney General Tim Griffin has filed lawsuits against Meta and TikTok.
Arkansas mandates bell-to-bell phone-free schools, ensuring their students can learn and connect with each other without distractions.
Arkansas has passed a few social media laws aimed at protecting minors and holding tech companies accountable, but they’ve been partially blocked in federal court.
Arkansas does not yet have a reasonable childhood independence law.

Areas of Opportunity

Requiring inaccessible storage will strengthen Arkansas’s phone-free schools law.
Passing a reasonable childhood independence law will protect Arkansas families from unfair charges of neglect.
Setting a social media age minimum of 16 with no parental consent loophole will solve the collective action problem for Arkansas families.
Amending existing social media laws to survive court challenges and to address manipulative AI chatbots would ensure kids are better protected online.

These opportunities are within reach for your home state. Download our policy menu, reach out to us, and reclaim childhood in Arkansas.

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Dive Deeper

Childhood Development Policies

Is the state helping to solve the collective action problems families face by adopting policies that support a healthier real-world childhood?

Distraction-Free Schools
Arkansas mandates bell-to-bell phone-free schools, though it does not require inaccessible storage. View the state’s Phone-Free Schools Report Card.
Childhood Independence
Arkansas does not yet have a reasonable childhood independence law, leaving too much discretion to the authorities and putting parents at risk of unfair neglect charges.

Political Leadership

Is the governor championing kids' safety, and is the Office of the Attorney General using its power to hold big tech accountable?

Governor Leadership
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a vocal advocate for rolling back the phone-based childhood and protecting kids online. She sent The Anxious Generation to every U.S. governor, highlighting the youth mental health crisis and urging them to pass legislation that promotes the four norms for a healthier childhood. By championing policies like the Social Media Safety Act, Sanders seeks to address the “public health crisis that’s devastating childhoods and destroying lives.”
Attorney General Leadership
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has filed lawsuits against Meta and TikTok to “hold them accountable for pushing addictive platforms on our kids and exposing them to a world of inappropriate, damaging content.” Arkansas also signed the AI Child Safety, AI Chatbot Safety, Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) letters.

Tech Policies

What is the state doing to address harmful tech and hold companies accountable?

Social Media Age Limits
Arkansas previously passed a law that required social media platforms to verify a user’s age and obtain parental consent for anyone under 18, but it was permanently blocked after a federal judge found it unconstitutional. A revised version of the law that changes the parental consent age to 16 goes into effect in April 2026.
Harmful Design Regulation
Arkansas's amended Social Media Safety Act prohibits platforms from using addictive design features on minors, including notifications, recommended content, artificial rewards, and human-like bots. The law is currently blocked during a court challenge.
Tech Accountability
In 2025, Arkansas passed a law that allows parents to sue social media platforms if content served by the algorithm causes their child to develop an eating disorder, attempt or commit suicide, or become addicted to the platform. The law was recently blocked by a federal judge.
Incentivizing Safer Tech
Arkansas has not yet enacted any significant laws in this area.

Family Perceptions

What do parents in the state say about their children's tech use, opportunities for independence, and real-life interactions?

IFS Resilient Childhood Score
High. Arkansas parents report that their kids experience:
- High levels of independent, unsupervised activity
- Ample time spent playing outside and socializing with friends
- Relatively low screen time and tech use

This page was last updated on March 4, 2026. The Childhood Index highlights key policies and actions and is not intended to be a comprehensive list. If there’s something you think we missed or should consider, we welcome your feedback.