HB 26-1255

House Bill 26-1255, which has been signed into law, requires social media companies with users in Colorado to provide a direct and always-available way for police to contact them. This includes responding quickly (within 8 hours) to search warrants and providing regular updates on compliance. The bill also mandates that these platforms report any threatening or harmful content posted by users to local law enforcement within 24 hours. Violations of this reporting requirement can lead to legal action under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. This new law applies to all social media platforms, not just those with a large user base in the state, and it aims to enhance online safety and law enforcement's ability to investigate crimes.

Official Summary

The act requires an operator of a social media platform (operator) to ensure that its social media platform provides a streamlined process to allow law enforcement agencies to contact the social media platform. The process must be available to law enforcement agencies at all times and make available a staffed hotline for the purposes of:Receiving and responding to questions about search warrants;Acknowledging the receipt of a search warrant within 8 hours after receipt; andProviding status updates on search warrant compliance to a requesting law enforcement agency.     With certain exceptions, an operator must comply with a search warrant within 24 hours if certain conditions apply. A court may reasonably extend this time if the court makes a written finding that the operator or social media platform has shown good cause for the extension and that an extension would not cause an adverse result. The act sets forth enforcement options for the attorney general and district attorneys regarding operators' compliance with search warrants.     The act requires an operator to report to a social media platform user's (user's) local law enforcement agency within 24 hours if the operator's social media platform takes any one of certain described adverse actions against a user. A violation of the reporting requirement is a violation of the 'Colorado Consumer Protection Act'.     In current law, 'social media platform' is defined as an internet-based service, website, or application that satisfies certain criteria, including having more than 100,000 active users in Colorado. The act removes this criterion.     The act makes conforming amendments as necessary to Senate Bill 26-011, as enacted in the 2026 regular legislative session, to have Senate Bill 26-011 conform with the provisions of the act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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