DENVER — A mother who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose wants stronger protections for people acting illegally on social media, and a bill scheduled for discussion on Monday could do just that.
Among many things, SB25-086 would require social media companies to enact public policies for their platform and remove a user who violates them within 72 hours.
"Users who are posting the sale or availability of fentanyl or other illicit drugs or illegal guns or opportunities for young people to engage in sex would be, should be removed from the platform," Chelsea Congdon said.
Congdon lost her son Miles Brundige, 19, on Nov. 8, 2020.
He was a sophomore at University of Colorado Boulder, suffering from a dislocated shoulder.
"The pain pills that he bought on Snapchat were fentanyl, and without his knowledge, he bought and consumed pills that killed him," Chelsea Congdon said.
She calls the bill "common sense," but groups opposing it, like the ACLU of Colorado, disagree.
"We're talking here about a private entity making a determination about a policy, not about the law," ACLU of Colorado Senior Policy Strategist Anaya Robinson said.
Robinson said there's a difference between a social media company and the government removing a user.
"That's when it becomes a First Amendment issue," Robinson said. "The reality is that acts that this bill is trying to circumvent or to stop on social media platforms are already illegal. There is opportunity for a prosecutor to come and press charges against these individuals."
Congdon said in Miles' case, no one was held accountable, and Snapchat did not respond to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office investigation.
"Miles could have grown up instead of die when he was 19 years old. And that's a really clear choice to me," she said.
Youth Violence Prevention Specialist Jason McBride doesn't think we could ban social media altogether because they make tens of millions of dollars off of kids alone, but he does support restrictions.
"We would definitely want to see more age restrictions, verifications, less drugs and gun sales, because the way it's set up now is a person selling drugs or guns has to be caught 10 times to be kicked off social social media platforms, we want to one and done," McBride said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has already looked at a law with similarities to this one.
In 2017, they shot down a law that would have made it a felony for registered sex offenders to access social media sites.
The court said it unconstitutionally limited free speech rights.
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