April 28, 2025 03:39 PM UTC

Veto Of Controversial Social Media Bill Will Stand

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Sun’s Jesse Paul reports, what was shaping up Friday to be an extremely rare rebuke of gubernatorial veto power fizzled today in the Colorado House, who scratched a vote to override Gov. Jared Polis’ veto of Senate Bill 25-086 after the Senate voted to do so on Friday:

The Colorado legislature Monday declined to override Jared Polis’ veto of a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting children from the harms of social media, sparing the governor the embarrassment of the state’s first veto override in 14 years…

The vote to lay over the veto override in the House passed 51-13.

All 13 representatives who voted against laying the override motion over were Democrats who voted “yes” on the original bill. That means about 30 representatives who voted for the original bill supported laying the override motion over, including Boesenecker.

It’s an anticlimactic win for Gov. Polis and the broad coalition of the legislation’s opponents after a vote to override in the House appeared likely to succeed on Friday. Denver7 reported last week on the governor’s veto of this bill intended to provide additional protections for children navigating social media, which he said gave private companies both too much power and an unwarranted obligation to enforce state law:

Polis vetoed the legislation on Thursday just before 5 p.m., saying that while well-intentioned, the bill erodes privacy, freedom and innovation and could potentially stifle free speech.

“This law imposes sweeping requirements that social media platforms, rather than law enforcement, enforce state law,” Polis wrote in his veto letter. “It mandates a private company to investigate and impose the government’s chosen penalty of permanently deplatforming a user even if the underlying complaint is malicious and unwarranted.”

Similar laws passed in other states have become embroiled in litigation, and opponents argued that creating a “patchwork” of varying requirements would be burdensome for social media platforms. On the losing side was a grassroots coalition of parents, a number of district attorneys, and the Colorado Children’s Campaign. Politically, this outcome is a win for Gov. Polis, who successfully contained a pique-laden clapback from his own majority.

Until next time, and proponents vow there will be a next time, keep an eye on what the kids are sharing with each other. We’ll admit to having been surprised more than once.