HB 1255: Social Media Duty to Report & Search Warrants - Colorado

Final Act → Signed Act · 3 edits · May 29, 2026

MINOR

This bill updates the text of House Bill 1255 to reflect its final passage and signing into law. The primary substantive change involves redefining 'social media platforms' to explicitly include interactive gaming services and virtual gaming applications, while simultaneously excluding certain health-focused websites and services from these requirements. The text also corrects formatting errors and clarifies the definitions of 'operator' and 'user' to ensure consistent application of search warrant procedures and adverse action reporting rules.

Scope change

The scope of the bill was expanded to include interactive and virtual gaming platforms as 'social media platforms' subject to the new search warrant and reporting requirements, while narrowing the scope by explicitly exempting websites primarily dedicated to health information, reproductive health care, and patient advocacy.

DEFINITION

Added 'interactive gaming' and 'virtual gaming' services to the definition of 'social media platform' to bring them under the bill's search warrant and reporting requirements.

Explicitly excluded websites and applications whose primary purpose is providing health information, reproductive health care, or patient advocacy from the bill's requirements.

TECHNICAL

Corrected formatting inconsistencies, spacing errors, and capitalization issues throughout the text to align with standard legislative formatting for signed acts.

Rerevised → Final Act · 6 edits · May 20, 2026

MODERATE

This bill establishes legal requirements for large social media platforms in Colorado regarding search warrants and user safety reporting. It defines which platforms are subject to these rules, sets strict timelines for responding to law enforcement, and outlines penalties for non-compliance.

Scope change

The bill applies to social media platforms with at least one million discrete monthly users, removing a previous criterion that required platforms to have over 100,000 active users specifically in Colorado.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'social media platform' that explicitly excludes internal business tools, e-commerce sites, and specific health and reproductive health services platforms.

REQUIREMENT

Requires operators to provide a staffed hotline available 24/7 to law enforcement for questions about search warrants and to acknowledge receipt of warrants within eight hours.

Mandates that operators comply with valid search warrants within 24 hours, with limited exceptions for court-ordered extensions based on good cause.

Requires operators to report to local law enforcement within 24 hours if a user posts content threatening imminent harm or expressing intent to commit a crime.

ENFORCEMENT

Establishes enforcement mechanisms allowing the Attorney General to seek injunctions, restitution, disgorgement of profits, and civil penalties of up to $250,000 per violation.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed the user threshold for platform eligibility from 100,000 active users in Colorado to 1 million discrete monthly users globally.

Revised → Rerevised · 3 edits · May 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill was re-revised to include amendments adopted by the Senate, updating the list of Senate sponsors. The text also indicates the bill is now in its 3rd Reading Unamended stage in the Senate. No substantive policy changes, definitions, or requirements were altered in this specific diff.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; this revision is procedural.

TECHNICAL

Senate sponsors Benavidez, Coleman, Danielson, Daugherty, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Kolker, Marchman, Sullivan, and Wallace were added to the sponsorship list.

A header indicating '3rd Reading Unamended' dated May 13, 2026, was added to reflect the bill's current legislative status.

The 'REVISED' status header and the specific phrase 'on Second Reading in the Second House' were removed.

Reengrossed → Revised · 3 edits · May 11, 2026

MINOR

The bill was updated from its 'Reengrossed' version to a 'Revised' version, indicating it has passed the second reading in the Senate. The most significant substantive change is the removal of a definition that previously included interactive and virtual gaming services within the scope of 'social media platforms.' This narrows the bill's application to exclude gaming platforms, focusing protections strictly on traditional social media.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed by removing gaming services from the definition of 'social media platform.'

DEFINITION

Deleted a specific clause defining 'social media platform' to include internet-based services for interactive or virtual gaming, thereby exempting gaming platforms from the bill's requirements.

TIMELINE

Added a date stamp of May 11, 2026, and a header indicating the bill was amended on second reading in the Senate.

TECHNICAL

Updated the header status from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' and adjusted the description of amendments adopted in the House.

Engrossed → Reengrossed · 3 edits · May 4, 2026

MINOR

The bill was reengrossed to include additional co-sponsors and updated the header to reflect that all amendments have been adopted. A significant substantive change was made to the definition of 'social media platform,' removing an exemption for internal business communication tools. This change ensures that platforms used strictly for employee communication within a business are no longer excluded from the bill's regulations, thereby expanding the scope of what services must comply with the new requirements.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include internal business communication tools that were previously exempted from the definition of a social media platform.

DEFINITION

Removed the exemption for services used to facilitate communication among employees or affiliates of a business or enterprise, provided access is restricted to those employees.

TECHNICAL

Added new co-sponsors to the bill: Bacon, Duran, Garcia, Goldstein, Hamrick, Joseph, Lieder, Lindsay, Nguyen, Titone, and Willford.

Updated the document header from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' and adjusted the text regarding the inclusion of amendments.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · May 1, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was re-engrossed to reflect amendments that significantly narrow its scope and modify its requirements. The most critical change is that the definition of a 'social media platform' now requires at least one million monthly users, whereas the original version did not have a user threshold. Additionally, the requirement for operators to report specific user content (such as threats or criminal intent) to local law enforcement was removed entirely. The definition of 'social media platform' was also expanded to explicitly include interactive gaming and virtual gaming services.

Scope change

The bill's applicability is now restricted to larger platforms with at least one million monthly users, excluding smaller sites and specific services like business communication tools, e-commerce, and news aggregators. The mandatory reporting requirement for imminent threats to individuals has been eliminated.

ELIGIBILITY

Added a requirement that a 'social media platform' must have at least one million discrete monthly users to be subject to the bill's provisions.

REQUIREMENT

Deleted the mandate requiring operators to report content threatening imminent harm or expressing intent to commit crimes to local law enforcement.

DEFINITION

Expanded the definition of 'social media platform' to explicitly include interactive gaming, virtual gaming, and services allowing user-generated content for rating or reviewing products.

Added specific exemptions for services used for internal business communication, e-commerce sales, and news/sports/entertainment content that is not user-generated.

Social Media Duty to Report & Search Warrants

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