Colorado’s 23 district attorneys are urging Gov. Jared Polis to sign a bill requiring social media companies to take a more proactive approach to user misconduct.

Senate Bill 086 passed through both the House and Senate with bipartisan support. However, the real test is yet to come as Polis has expressed concerns about the measure’s potential privacy implications and conflicts with the First Amendment.

The bill would require social media companies to evaluate reports of policy violations within 72 hours. If a user is found to have violated the policy, the platform must remove them within 24 hours. It also requires social media companies to submit annual reports detailing documented policy violations and data on minors’ use of their platforms.

Additionally, social media companies with over a million users will be required to provide a streamlined process for Colorado law enforcement agencies to contact them and comply with certain search warrants within 72 hours.

District Attorney Brian Mason, who represents Adams and Broomfield counties, said the bill aims to protect kids from online predators selling illegal drugs and human traffickers.

“Kids are killing kids, and they’re using social media to do it,” Mason said. “Nearly every one of the juvenile homicides that I have filed in the last four years has had a social media component, so social media is without question facilitating juvenile violent crime, and this bill would do something to actually help us attack it.”

Colorado law already requires social media companies to comply with search warrants involving cases of fentanyl deaths, shootings and exploitation. Still, the companies often string law enforcement along for weeks or months, sometimes never giving them access to the account. Mason hopes that imposing a deadline will force them to act more urgently.

“I think all businesses respond well to deadlines,” he said. “This bill imposes deadlines on responding to search requests, and we need those deadlines in order to get some social medias to act.”

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty agreed.

“The social media companies that operate these platforms have the highest levels of technology, so I think asking for a three-day turnaround time on a judicially-approved search warrant when kids are in danger is not asking too much,” he said.

Mason said he understood the governor’s concerns about First Amendment protections, but those protections have limits.

“The First Amendment does not protect criminal activity,” he said. “The First Amendment does not protect someone who is trying to engage in human trafficking or trying to sell a gun to a minor. All of these things are happening now, and that’s not a First Amendment issue; that’s a criminal issue. I think if the Governor looks at it through that lens, he’ll find that this bill does not infringe upon First Amendment rights but rather protects the state that he has served so well, and I hope he’ll sign it.”

According to Dougherty, his office has overseen two separate human trafficking cases in just as many weeks in which the perpetrators contacted minors via social media.

“This bill would address a serious public safety concern that’s impacting Boulder County and communities throughout Colorado and across the country,” he said. “We have predators that are praying upon kids and teens through social media to sell drugs and guns, exchange sexually explicit material, and lure them into sexual offenses. We see a lot of these cases in Boulder County and throughout the state, and that’s why all of our district attorneys are united and supporting this bill. All 23 of us believe this bill is required for public safety and for victims and protecting kids going forward.”

Both Mason and Dougherty said the bill aligns with Polis’ public safety goals, which have been a top priority throughout his time in office.

“I know that Governor Polis has been very focused on addressing the valid concerns that people have about public safety and crime throughout the state of Colorado, and the Governor has been trying to lead an effort to bring Colorado into the top 10 safest states,” said Dougherty. “When we see these horrific and serious offenses being committed online, part of that mission to address public safety concerns is to put protections in place on social media where we’re seeing kids being victimized over and over and over again. I think those two things go hand-in-hand, and I’m sure the Governor is going to consider that because this is a public safety risk and people across the state of Colorado are hoping that we continue to treat public safety as a priority.”

Mason and Dougherty said they were not involved in recent talks with Polis. Sponsor Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada, said she has not heard anything from his office but hopes “he is being really thoughtful about his decision and ensuring that he is hearing from the advocates and their personal stories.”

Read more about SB 086 here.