Ark. AG Takes No Position as ACLU Seeks Leave to File Amicus Brief for NetChoice

Arkansas in Fayetteville. Griffin “disagrees with the position and contents of the ACLU’s proposed brief,” which moved the court for an injunction to block Griffin from enforcing SB 396, Act 689, when it takes effect Sept. 1, requiring users who fail to show they're 18 or older to obtain explicit parental consent to engage on social media (see 2307170021). If allowed to go into effect, SB-396 will require all users -- including adults -- to verify their age before they can access their social media accounts, or create new ones, said the brief. Social media exposes people to a “wide range of views and perspectives, and can challenge unquestioned assumptions and beliefs,” the brief said, noting 23% of U.S. adult social media users say they have changed their views about a political or social issue in the past year because of something they saw on a social media platform. Social media “has been central to organizing, joining, and participating in social and political movements from the Tea Party movement, to Occupy Wall Street, to indigenous organizing to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, to the boycott of Autism Speaks,” it said. The brief noted people use social media to share religious beliefs or explore religious identity and to share minority views and experiences. Many young LGBTQ people who face discrimination turn to social media for community, exploration and support; people with disabilities use social media to build community and educate others, it noted. “A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more,” it said.