A law requiring social media platforms to respond to search warrants within 72 hours goes into effect on Aug. 12.

Senate Bill 011 also requires platforms to create a staffed hotline for Colorado law enforcement agencies to contact regarding pending search warrants.

The bill is a pared-down version of last year’s Senate Bill 086, which also included provisions related to violations of social media policies and minor users. While the bill passed through both the House and the Senate, Gov. Jared Polis vetoed the legislation, expressing worries about requiring social media companies to enforce state laws and about the measure’s data-collection requirements.

The Senate voted to override the veto, but efforts stalled when it became clear there weren’t enough votes in the House to successfully challenge the governor’s decision.

Polis signed Senate Bill 011 — sponsored by Sens. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, and Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, and Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins and Jarvis Caldwell, R-Colorado Springs — into law last spring, calling it “a major step in supporting law enforcement by providing them with the tools needed to quickly investigate activity that threatens public safety.”

‘A game-changer’

Supporters of the signed measure ranged from law enforcement agencies to healthcare providers and youth advocates, who raised worries about crimes committed through social media. They pointed to several recent cases they argued could have turned out differently had the bill been in effect.

Last September, Desmond Holly, a student at Evergreen High School, opened fire on his classmates, injuring two before killing himself.

Holly had posted a photo of a handgun on his social media account shortly before the shooting. Just an hour before the shooting, he made a second post with a photo of himself holding the firearm.

A group that monitors hate speech and extremism reported several posts Holly made over the summer, but because current laws at the time give social media companies 35 days to respond to warrants regarding posts, investigations into Holly were ongoing when the shooting occurred.

Nicole Milo, director of government affairs at CommonSpirit Health, said her organization supported the bill because “we feel that it’s really important to ensure that law enforcement has all the tools needed for quick access to ensure that they can do what they can to save lives.”

Milo said her staff treated the two students injured in the attack and one of them was an employee’s son.

The Evergreen community was rocked by a second shooting just months later. In February, a man fired 19 rounds into CommonSpirit’s primary care office before taking his own life. No one was injured in the incident.

“Our care teams have experienced quite a few of these shootings over the years, and it’s deeply traumatic for them, so if there’s anything that we can do to help save lives in the community, we’re going to stand behind it and try to do our part,” Milo said. “Any tools we can continue to give law enforcement to be able to stop these perpetrators and prevent violence in our communities is important.”

Senate Bill 011 also aims to expedite investigations into drug trafficking.

Broomfield mom Kim Osterman, who testified in favor of the bill when it was heard in committees, lost her 18-year-old son Max to a fentanyl overdose in 2021.

Max, a high school wrestler who planned to study business, had arranged to meet a dealer he thought was selling Percocet over Snapchat. However, the pills were laced with fentanyl.

According to Osterman, Snapchat never complied with a search warrant from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office to access the Snapchat accounts of the suspect and Max.

After three years, the suspected dealer, Sergio Guerra-Carrillo, received the maximum punishment of six years in prison for two distribution charges. In that time, four other individuals died of fentanyl overdoses from pills he allegedly sold them.

Antonia Merzon of Blue Rising said the pattern is strikingly consistent: law enforcement, prosecutors and families report that anonymous users on major platforms are selling fentanyl, trafficking guns or coercing children into sexual exploitation. Police take those reports to a judge, the judge issues a search warrant and the court orders the company to turn over the requested data.

Then nothing arrives.

“The trail goes cold and it’s very difficult to find the people who are doing it, and the real problem with that, on top of not finding justice in the case, is that they’re probably going on to victimize more and more people,” he said.

Merzon called Senate Bill 011 a “game changer” for law enforcement.

“The reason law enforcement is investigating is that these are crimes. These are things that violate our existing laws,” Merzon said. “So, this is just giving a better mechanism to do something about this activity that’s hurting so many kids.”

‘Just one gear in big machine’

Senate Bill 011 is just one of several laws passed by states in recent years to reduce online harms to kids, something that has proven difficult given the rapid pace of technological evolution.

“Part of the issue here is that we’re really playing catch-up,” said Jon Kruljac, CEO of the Kempe Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine. “The time cycle is so fast. The rapidity at which technology changes is hard for systems, it’s hard for schools and it’s hard for parents to catch up.”

Kruljac said he believes online safety is a nonpartisan issue, though he acknowledged worries about the First Amendment and privacy rights. However, at the end of the day, the biggest issue is protecting kids, he said.

“This is just one gear in a big machine,” he said. “But I think it’s a necessary one that is prudent and rational in that you’re providing law enforcement the ability to enforce through warrants and accountability for the tech companies to respond to those warrants in a timely fashion.”

Denver Gazette reporter Sage Kelley contributed to this story.