FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 2, 2024
Media Contact:
Aurea Bolaños Perea
Strategic Communications Director, COLOR
aurea@colorlatina.org
DENVER, CO- Colorado advocates, including COLOR, Cobalt, ProgressNow Colorado, One Colorado, and New Era Colorado, today released the following statement on SB24-158, “Social Media Protect Juveniles Disclosures Reports.”
This bill would have allowed law enforcement access to social media users’ data without a warrant while prohibiting the social media company from notifying the user. This poses a safety risk for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and young people who face disproportionate harm and violence from law enforcement and who cannot trust law enforcement to act in their best interest.
“We are committed to working through the intersectional safety concerns that young people and people of color face on social media. Senate Bill 24-158 would have unintentionally threatened the safety of those accessing abortion or gender-affirming care across our state, which prides itself as a beacon of progressive legislation. Since the overturning of Roe, we’ve witnessed the detrimental effects of breaches of data privacy like the ones highlighted in this bill, as people across the country are being criminalized for seeking reproductive freedom and care. We mustn’t facilitate the prosecution of our communities seeking care and remove all barriers to care. Policy work, advocacy, and our proactive ballot measure campaign to amend our state constitution will enable Coloradans to lead safe, healthy, self-determined lives without fear of shame or prosecution,” said Mar Galvez Seminario, Legislative and Research Manager at the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR).
“The relationship between social media and youth mental health is nuanced; we at One Colorado strongly believe recognition of this complexity is central to building sustainable solutions. Online spaces are the top-ranked resource for finding affirming communities, and SB158 would have put access to those spaces in jeopardy. One Colorado appreciates the proponents for listening to community members’ concerns about the unintended consequences of SB158. However, requirements for parental consent hinder access to information on mental health support, suicide prevention, and resources for the LGBTQ+ community.” Dr. Jax Gonzalez, Political Director at One Colorado.
“Senate Bill 158 would make everyone in Colorado, residents and non-residents alike, vulnerable to warrantless data searches that could lead to their conviction and imprisonment for obtaining, providing, or assisting with abortion and gender-affirming care,” said Kiera Hatton Sena, Political and Organizing Director at Cobalt
“Data privacy is more important than ever for young people in a post-Roe world. SB24-158 would have had wide-reaching implications, not only for data privacy but for access to reproductive and gender-affirming care—all of which are major issues for young people. While we’ve worked hard to protect the right to reproductive care in Colorado, our politics and our lives don’t operate in a vacuum. Despite its intentions, passing SB24-158 would have opened the door to the over-surveillance of young people’s reproductive and gender-affirming care across the West,” said Natasha Berwick, Political Director at New Era Colorado.
“As a mother, I understand the desire to protect children using social media. As a woman living in a post-Roe world, we can not pass legislation that has the potential to interfere with people’s right to privacy and access to abortion or gender-affirming care,” said Hazel Gibson, Reproductive and Abortion Rights Director at ProgressNow Colorado.
Organizations that have signed on to a letter of support:
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, ProgressNow Colorado, New Era Colorado, Cobalt, Colorado Working Families Party, One Colorado, Out Boulder County, Elephant Circle, Soul 2 Soul, Pueblo Pro-Choice, Southern Colorado Equality Alliance, Voces Unidas de las Montañas, Movimiento Poder, and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.
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