Age verification bills are popping up in legislatures around the country. While the stated purpose of these bills speaks to a worthy goal—to keep children safe—the outcome is more murky. Arkansas’s age verification law is one such example, and it epitomizes the clash of good intentions, real world consequences, and the standard of the United States Constitution.

Arkansas enacted Act 689, the Social Media Safety Act, in 2023, and it was blocked by the courts upon its signing. It was the first such bill in the country, requiring all social media users to submit personal information in the form of photos and licenses in order to access existing platforms, and it raised instant concerns over the privacy of users and their access to protected speech. The law remained in legal limbo until last week, when a U.S. District Court ended the litigation saga and permanently blocked Act 689 from taking effect.

The Court recognized the inadequacy of such legislation to achieve its stated goals, as well as the Constitutional risks of such an incomplete solution. “Act 689, if implemented, would violate the First Amendment rights of Arkansans because it is a facially content based restriction on speech that is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. It would also violate the due process rights of Plaintiffs’ members because it is unconstitutionally vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.” In short, Act 689 made promises it could not keep and risked users’ rights in the process.

This is a common pattern for age verification laws. It begins with good intentions and a sense of urgency, but when the rubber meets the road, the policy falls short. The legal battles that have become almost inherent to age verification regulatory schemes place a costly burden on taxpayers and often distract from using policy and research to create meaningful change.

The Arkansas ruling serves as a powerful example to legislators pondering the needs of their constituents: a real solution will pass Constitutional muster and achieve what it promises.

Protecting children online is one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus in an increasingly polarized environment and the rapidly increasing number of proposed age verification bills are coming from both sides of the aisle. Using short sighted regulations to achieve a lasting change is a sure way to stop the momentum of this political unity. Rather, lawmakers can emphasize education for both children and parents, resources that empower and inform, and private organizations that are innovating solutions to the perils of the digital age at a pace far quicker than legally contested laws could ever achieve.

The Court’s decision in Arkansas was not a loss, but a lesson. Alternatives to Act 689 and those like it are abundant. The Pelican Institute released a comprehensive guide for parents to protect youth on social media. Social media companies are also proving true the laws of the free market by meeting the outcry of families and lawmakers with great new versions and tools on their apps that empower parents to walk alongside their children. That’s the best way to keep kids safe online and uphold the solemn oath to support the United States and state constitutions.