Several groups on Friday lauded the Colorado state Senate’s veto override of a bill that seeks to impose certain regulations on social media platforms in the hopes they would crack down on users who violate their rules, while critics called the bill censorious and argued it would give tech companies “too much power” to “de-platform” people.

The Senate voted to override the governor’s veto on a 29-6 vote. The state House is expected to hold its override vote next week.

Senate Bill 086 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 that person or entity within 24 hours. The bill would also require social media companies to submit annual reports detailing documented policy violations and data on minors’ use of their platforms.

The legislation received the support of all 23 district attorneys, as well as Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The bill — sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada, and Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, and Reps. Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, and Anthony Hartsook, R-Parker — drew opposition from the ACLU and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, groups that rarely agree on anything, though they balked at the proposal for different reasons.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners called the bill “a disturbing recipe for extreme censorship.” A separate post called the measure “nothing more than California-style social media censorship.”

During a press conference earlier this week, Kouri Marshall of the Chamber of Progress said the bill would disproportionately affect people of color and LGBTQ youth, who, Kouri added, use social media to build online communities and share experiences.

“Our state government should not be mandating private entities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the bill’s sponsors celebrated the Senate override, with Frizell saying she is proud of her colleagues for “uniting across party lines to do the right thing for Colorado kids and parents.”

Governor: Bill gives tech companies ‘too much power’ 

In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for the governor said the bill would have given tech companies “too much power to de-platform people.”

The governor had expressed his concerns about its potential privacy and free speech implications clear early on.

The governor’s office said the bill contains no safeguards for private information that could be leaked and he is “worried about preserving civil rights and defending vulnerable Coloradans, which are so important at this critical moment.”

The governor supported other aspects of the legislation, his office said. Those included giving law enforcement “new tools to crack down on online criminal activity, especially targeted at children,” his office said.

“Gov. Polis offered specific improvements to the language that would’ve strengthened law enforcement’s ability to crack down on illegal activity online without impeding people’s privacy and freedom. He remains open to future legislation that accomplishes those objectives,” the governor’s office added.

Meanwhile, the request of the bill’s sponsors, Weiser conducted a constitutional analysis and concluded the measure is constitutionally sound.

“A user who engages in illegal activity on a platform engages in conduct unprotected by the First Amendment,” Weiser wrote.

The bill’s requirement for social media companies to remove users who have engaged in illegal activity on their platform would “likely be upheld as lawful,” he argued, because the policy is “narrowly tailored to serve the government’s significant interest in protecting public safety and children, while leaving open alternative methods for that user to engage in speech on other platforms.”

Austin Chambers, a partner at the law firm Dorsey & Whitney and a data privacy expert, said Senate Bill 086 is “one of an increasing array” of laws passed by states to regulate child safety on social media platforms. The Colorado measure, he said, takes a “somewhat novel approach” by requiring social media companies to publish certain policies.

“Tech companies have had more than a decade to stop the spread of drug dealing, illegal gun sales, and sexual exploitation that openly targets kids – and they have failed,” said the organization’s executive director, Dawn Reinfeld. “If these billion dollar companies can’t be bothered to take basic steps to stop activity that is actively killing children, parents and lawmakers will.”