Law / United States / 
Arkansas
Social media accounts of current and prospective students and employees of institutions of higher education
Ark. Code Ann. sec. 6-60-104 (Act 998 of 2013)
In force.
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- If you are a public or private institution that provides postsecondary education or training, do not require, request, suggest or cause a current or prospective student or employee to disclose the username and password to a personal social media account (Ark. Code Ann. sec. 6-60-104(b)(1)).
- Do not require, request, suggest or cause a current or prospective student, as a condition of acceptance in curricular or extracurricular activities, to add an employee or volunteer of the institution to the contacts of a social media account or to change the account's privacy settings (sec. 6-60-104(b)(2)).
- Do not take action against, threaten, or penalize a current student, or refuse to admit or hire a prospective employee or student, for exercising those rights (sec. 6-60-104(c)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What record it asks for
Logging duty
The section bars an institution of higher education from requiring a student's or employee's social media credentials or account changes. It names no log or record and no reader of one.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
An institution of higher education is a public or private institution that provides postsecondary education or training to students that is academic, technical, trade-oriented, or in preparation for gaining employment in a recognized occupation. An institution of higher education may not require, request, suggest or cause a current or prospective employee or student to disclose the username and password to a personal social media account.
An institution of higher education may not require, request, suggest or cause a current or prospective student, as a condition of acceptance in curricular or extracurricular activities, to add an employee or volunteer of the institution to the contacts of the student's social media account or to change its privacy settings. An institution of higher education may not penalize a current student, or refuse to admit or hire a prospective employee or student, for exercising those rights.
The section does not prohibit an institution of higher education from viewing information about a current or prospective employee or student that is publicly available on the internet. A social media account is a personal account with an electronic medium or service where users may create, share or view user-generated content, and does not include an account provided to an employee or student by the institution of higher education.
Act 998 of 2013 added the section to Subchapter 1 of Chapter 60 of Title 6 of the Arkansas Code. A social media account also does not include an account opened by an employee or student at the institution's request, set up on the institution's behalf, or set up to impersonate the institution through its name, logos or trademarks. Nothing in the section prevents an institution of higher education from complying with the requirements of federal or state laws, rules or regulations.
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