SB 24-158

Senate Bill 24-158, which has been signed into law, requires social media companies to post clear policies on their platforms by July 1, 2025. These policies must include rules against illegal activities like selling drugs or firearms and sharing harmful content, as well as procedures for users to report violations and access parental controls. The bill also mandates that these companies submit annual reports to the attorney general detailing how they enforce these policies and protect juveniles' data. This law aims to make social media safer for young users by ensuring transparency and accountability from tech companies.

Official 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 may be reported to law enforcement for investigation and potential prosecution ; A description of the social media company's policies and practices with respect to personal data and safeguards for juveniles; Information about how to access required safeguards and parental tools, including information for juveniles or their parents about options to opt out of or control personalized recommendation systems and other platform features; Notice about whether the social media platform uses or makes available to juveniles a product, service, or design feature that presents a heightened risk of harm to juveniles; and If the social media platform operates a personalized recommendation system, a description of how the personalized recommendation system is used to provide information to juveniles. 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 or 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 concerning activities of users based in the United States, including a breakdown of Colorado-based users' activities with regard to certain prohibited categories of content; 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 and each potential user's age; Treat a user as a juvenile if the user's device communicates or signals that the user is a juvenile; 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 juvenile'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 Within 24 hours after determining a violation was made, 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 or 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, or 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, or an act to aid or abet such a violation, is a deceptive trade practice and punishable pursuant to the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act". (Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.) (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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