Colorado legislature: House committee kills social media bill requiring age verification, banning illicit sales
The Colorado legislature has expanded its flooring calendars and plans quick agendas as it really works to go laws on housing, gun regulation, transportation, taxes and different priorities forward of the top of the 2024 session subsequent week. Listed below are updates on main motion and key developments.
This story will likely be up to date all through the day.
Up to date at 10:43 a.m.: A controversial invoice aiming to limit the content material younger folks can see on social media associated to medicine, weapons and intercourse died in committee Wednesday night time.
Senate Invoice 158 would have tasked social media firms with creating insurance policies that explicitly prohibit promoting and promoting illicit substances and firearms, the intercourse trafficking of juveniles and creating sexually exploitative content material. It might have additionally required firms to watch this type of exercise, block customers who posted in regards to the aforementioned subjects, and report it to native legislation enforcement, together with the state legal professional normal.
The invoice additionally would have established age-verification necessities for social media firms. It handed the Senate 30-1 final month.
The measure had assist from quite a lot of high-profile native officers, together with Denver District Lawyer Beth McCann, who spoke in favor of it in the course of the Home Training Committee’s assembly Wednesday. Critics, particularly these in psychedelic advocacy circles, argued the invoice would infringe upon people’ proper to free speech. The committee postponed consideration of the invoice indefinitely.
Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Steamboat Springs Democrat, mentioned there wasn’t sufficient time within the legislative session to get the main points ironed out to the place they have to be. Lukens mentioned there was a have to make social media safer for Colorado youth and that she was dedicated to engaged on an initiative in that vein for future periods.
“The fact is, this invoice merely wants extra time. We’re speaking about payments turning into legislation, which is one thing that I do know all of us take very significantly,” Lukens mentioned.
One other social media-related invoice, Home Invoice 1136, has handed each chambers and can head to the governor. It might require the Colorado Division of Training to create a useful resource financial institution that gives info to educators and fogeys in regards to the results of social media on youth psychological well being.
The measure additionally would require social media apps to show pop-up notifications to customers youthful than 18 if they’ve been on the app for greater than an hour inside a 24-hour interval or in the event that they open it between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
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