Arkansas Places Sweeping Restrictions on Employers' Access to Social Media Accounts

Arkansas has passed legislation banning employers from requesting passwords to job applicants' and employees' social media accounts. Employers are also banned from asking applicants and employees to change their privacy settings or to add the employer on their contact list.

The only thing employers can still do is view the public pages of any employee's or applicant's social media account.

Arkansas thus joins a growing list of states enacting employer prohibitions regarding social media access. Most states' laws cover both job applicants and employees, but the law in New Mexico applies only to job applicants.