Arkansas legislature passes first state version of COPPA 2.0, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has worked with state legislators to pass a landmark children’s online privacy protection bill, one day before the legislature is set to adjourn.
April 16, 2025 — A state version of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 2.0 is on its way to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) after getting final approval from the legislature on Tuesday.
The Arkansas House passed the bill, HB 1717, in a nearly unanimous vote. The measure will provide online privacy protections for minors through age 16 by limiting the information that companies can collect without permission.
It would also place major restrictions on targeted advertising to children, and companies would have to honor requests to delete a child’s personal data. The final version excluded gaming companies from the bill.
The federal version of the law, known as COPPA 2.0, has stalled in Congress. If signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Arkansas could become the first state to pass its own legislation tackling these issues, as first reported by Pluribus News.
Building on federal coppa, established in 1998
The first federal COPPA bill was passed in 1998 and updated in 2013. It protects the online privacy of children under age 13. The 2.0 version would extend those protections to teenagers up to age 17.
The U.S. Senate passed COPPA 2.0, and another proposal, the Kids Online Safety Act, in July 2024, but the House has not taken up the legislation.
Arkansas Rep. Zack Gramlich (R) sponsored state versions of both proposals last month, and received support on both sides of the aisle. The Arkansas version of the Kids Online Safety Act passed the state House, but not the Senate before the legislature was to adjourn on Wednesday.
tech lobby opposed
The legislation drew the ire of the tech industry, with Chamber of Progress, a policy group backed by the industry, writing a letter to Arkansas House Democrats claiming that the bill could harm LGBTQ youth. The group said children in “unsupportive households” would be left vulnerable by the bill, because it could give parents access to their accounts and data.
An earlier Arkansas child safety law, the Social Media Safety Act of 2023, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in Fayetteville earlier this month. The law required parental permission for teenagers to have social media accounts.
gov. sanders and legislators have more on the way
Sanders and state legislators are already fast-tracking a pair of bills to amend and replace the 2023 legislation by taking on the Constitutional concerns that sunk the first attempt.
The new proposals would codify the right of parents whose child commits or attempts suicide due to exposure to harmful social media to sue the tech companies for damages in state court.
One would amend the Social Media Safety Act to clarify the definition of social media, and expand protections to more platforms. It would also lower the age of minor users to 16, prohibit social media platforms from using algorithms to target minors, and creates a penalty for noncompliance.
Both new proposals would only apply to new accounts.
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