Social media companies must respond to search warrants within 72 hours under new Colorado law
Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
Separate bill still under consideration would require compliance with search warrants within 24 hours.
This article was originally published by Colorado Newsline.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bipartisan online safety bill into law Monday, creating a streamlined process for law enforcement to communicate with social media companies about search warrants.
Senate Bill 26-11 requires that online platforms staff a hotline with workers available to answer questions from Colorado law enforcement about search warrants. Companies must acknowledge they received a court-ordered search warrant within eight hours and must comply within 72 hours.
Polis said the law will make sure that online platforms respond promptly to law enforcement “before the trail goes cold.” The bill’s sponsors are Sens. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, and Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat, and Reps. Andrew Boesenecker, a Fort Collins Democrat, and Jarvis Caldwell, a Colorado Springs Republican.
“I am so incredibly proud and humbled to have done this work on behalf of the families who have lost so much,” Frizell said. “They have persisted to make certain that law enforcement has the tools that they need to solve crimes, and to make sure that people who are doing the wrong thing on social media platforms are brought to justice.”
Frizell and Boesenecker sponsored a bill Polis vetoed last year that would have required social media companies to investigate and remove users they determine violate policies related to the sexual exploitation of young people or the sale of drugs or guns to them. The companies would have been required to hand over related materials to law enforcement within three days of a request.
Groups that supported the measure include Colorado PTA, Violence Free Colorado, the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council and Blue Rising, a Colorado nonprofit that works to protect youth from the harms of drugs, social media and violence.
Social media companies have an obligation to respond in a timely fashion and not hinder law enforcement investigations, Boesenecker said.
“I don’t know of another instance where somebody could knock on your door, give you a warrant, and you could say, ‘I’ll get to it when I get to it,’” Boesenecker said. “That privilege does not exist for anybody else in our society.”
Some Lawmakers Want 24-Hour Limit
A separate bill in the Colorado House of Representatives would require social media companies to comply with warrants within 24 hours as opposed to 72 hours. House Bill 26-1255 would also require social media companies that restrict a user’s account to report any threats of imminent and specific harm to the user’s local law enforcement agency within 24 hours.
The sponsors of the House bill — Rep. Tammy Story, an Evergreen Democrat, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Wheat Ridge Democrat — say it comes in response to last year’s Evergreen High School shooting. Story has worked with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to develop the bill since shortly after the shooting in September.
Social media accounts apparently belonging to the suspect in the Evergreen shooting were filled with white supremacist content, posts exhibiting a fascination with mass shootings and reposted videos that “were explicitly antisemitic or depicted people in Nazi uniforms.”
Story said her bill suggests a 24-hour response time because when there is an imminent threat, “hours could make a big difference.” She plans to keep moving forward with her bill and said she’s willing to work through the legislative process to conform the two measures.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee approved HB-1255 on a 7-4 vote earlier this month, though some lawmakers said parts of the bill raised Fourth Amendment concerns regarding unreasonable searches and seizures. Story said she thinks amendments that will be introduced when the bill goes to the House floor will address those concerns.
U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, is sponsoring federal legislation in response to the Evergreen shooting, too. Her bill would require social media and telecommunications companies to respond to FBI subpoenas and warrants within 72 hours, instead of 35 days currently allowed.