| Summary |
The bill requires that on or before July 1, 2025, a social media
company must post published policies for each of its social media
platforms. Thereafter, a social media company must post any updates to
the policies within 14 days after the implementation of the updated
policies. The published policies must include:
•
Contact information that allows a user to ask the social
media company questions about the published policies;
•
A description of the process that a user must follow to flag
content, groups, or other users that the user believes violate
the published policies;
•
A process to which the social media company commits for
the purpose of responding to and resolving user questions
and flags;
•
A statement that the use of the social media platform for
the promotion, sale, or advertisement of any illicit
substance; for the sale of any firearm in violation of state
or federal law; for sex trafficking of a juvenile; or for the
possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation
of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative
material is prohibited;
•
A description of the social media company's process for
enforcing its published policies and the potential
consequences of violating the published policies; and
•
A statement that violations of the published policies that
also violate state or federal law will be reported to law
enforcement for investigation and potential prosecution.
A social media company must annually submit to the attorney
general a report that includes, for each social media platform owned or
operated by the social media company:
•
The current version of the published policies of the social
media platform;
•
If the social media company has filed its first report, a
complete and detailed description of any changes to the
published policies since the previous report;
•
A statement of whether the current version of the published
policies contains definitions and provisions relating to
illicit substances, the sale of firearms in violation of state
or federal law, sex trafficking of a juvenile, or the
possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation
of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative
material and, if so, the definitions of those categories and
a description of those provisions;
•
A detailed description of content moderation practices used
by the social media company;
•
Data describing actioned items of content and related
actions taken by the social media company;
•
Data concerning how juveniles in Colorado use the social
media platform;
•
A detailed description of the social media platform's age
verification practices, how they are enforced, and how the
social media platform responds to user reports of
violations; and
•
Data concerning a social media platform's application of its
published policies.
The bill also requires a social media company to:
•
Use a commercially reasonable process to verify each user's
age;
•
Allow each user of its social media platforms to select an
option to apply the protections available to juveniles;
•
Retain any information obtained for age verification
purposes only for the purpose of compliance and for no
other purpose and to dispose of such information securely
after age verification is complete. Additionally, any agent
of a social media company that processes age verification
information must have its principal place of business in the
United States.
•
Provide readily accessible and easy-to-use tools and
settings for parents and guardians to support an individual
that a social media platform knows or reasonably should
know is a juvenile with respect to the individual's use of the
social media platform. A social media platform must
provide similar tools to an individual that the social media
platform knows or reasonably should know is a juvenile.
•
Provide an individual that the platform knows or
reasonably should know is a juvenile with clear and
conspicuous warnings of certain threats and events
regarding content that the individual shares or accesses on
a social media platform;
•
Immediately remove any user of a social media platform
who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance or
engages in the sale of a firearm in violation of state or
federal law, the sex trafficking of a juvenile, or the
possession, display, exchange, distribution, sale, or creation
of, or the inducement to create, sexually exploitative
material; keep the user removed until there is human
review of this activity; and permanently remove the user if
human review confirms the user engaged in such an action;
•
Retain for at least one year any data and metadata
concerning users' identities and activities on the social
media platform;
•
Initially respond to any inquiry from a law enforcement
agency within 3 days after receiving the inquiry to confirm
receipt and to fulfill the law enforcement request within 30
days after receiving the inquiry. A social media company
shall preserve the data needed to respond to an inquiry
from a law enforcement agency.
The bill prohibits a social media company from:
•
Alerting a user to the fact that a law enforcement agency is
investigating the user's activity and account; or
•
Using dark patterns to lead or encourage juveniles to
provide personal information beyond what is reasonably
expected, to disable safeguards or parental controls, to
forgo privacy protections, or to take any action that the
social media platform knows is not in the best interest of
juveniles reasonably likely to access the social media
platform.
A violation of the bill's provisions is a deceptive trade practice and
punishable pursuant to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.
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