DENVER — A new bill making its way through the Colorado legislature could change the way kids interact with social media.
Before it was heard in the education committee on Wednesday, Senate Bill 24-158 would require a social media company to verify each potential user’s age and treat a user like a juvenile if that person’s device signals they are a juvenile. To verify age, social media companies would be required to keep data about users' identities and activity on the social media platform for at least one year. The bill requires social media companies to give kids a clear warning of certain threats or events they’re seeing, and could remove any user within 24 hours who advertises some kinds of illegal activity.
“Right now it's kind of unlimited access, free access,” said Matthew Pesko, a child psychiatrist at Denver Health. “There is no age verification on these applications at all.”
It's not uncommon that social media is at the root of conversations in Pesko’s office.
“Sometimes it’s not directly addressed by the adolescent, but the parents are saying ‘boy, this is causing a major problem, they’re not engaged in other activities or relationships,’” Pesko said.
He’s hoping this bill will help.
John Sileo, a cybersecurity expert, said social media regulation is important but there has to be oversight.
“That’s where it often fails, is that they don’t have that watchdog saying ‘yes, this is actually working,’” said Sileo.
Kevin Matthews marched to the Capitol from Plant Magic Café to oppose the bill, saying it violates First and Fourth Amendment rights.
“I would prefer they remove the illicit substance language from the bill,” Matthews said. “I think instead of prohibiting content online and kind of trying to hide it, it’s more important that we actually spend the time to properly educate our young ones so that they are prepared to enter the world.”
An amendment to the bill excludes psilocybin from the definition of an illicit substance. Matthews said that’s not enough.
“As a father, I feel like the intentions of this bill are noble and honorable,” Matthews said. “However, I don’t think at this time it is the state’s responsibility to dictate what we can and can't share online.”
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