Healthier Social Media Use By Youth, also known as House Bill 1136, was introduced and passed by the Colorado legislature in 2024 with broad bipartisan support. This bill represents a commitment to mitigating social media's adverse effects on our kids.

Studies show that spending more than three hours a day scrolling through online platforms can double a teen’s likelihood of experiencing depression or anxiety. Yet, the average 10th grader spends over 3.5 hours a day on social media. 

A key component of this bill requires social media platforms to issue pop-up notifications for users under the age of 18, advising them of the impacts of social media on their mental health and brain development. These nudges would trigger after a user spends an hour or more on a platform in a 24-hour period or is on the platform between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM and would reappear every 30 minutes. 

OUR BILL IS BEING CHALLENGED BY BIG SOCIAL MEDIA

On Thursday, August 14th, NetChoice filed a lawsuit to halt the implementation of the pop-up messages for youth social media users. NetChoice is a trade organization that represents the interests of social media platforms, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (YouTube), Pinterest, X, and Snapchat. 

Research has proven that in-app friction is effective at getting kids to stop, think, and get off their screens. These nudges, via pop-up notifications, provide data and evidence-based information and resources to help users make informed decisions.

Our approach is simple: we want to equip kids with the knowledge they need to protect their mental health while using social media safely. Rose Pugliese, Republican House Minority Leader and sponsor of the bill said: “This is a common-sense, family-focused law that provides young people and their parents with the knowledge and support they need to make informed decisions about safe social media usage.”

 VOTERS SUPPORT THIS LAW

In a poll commissioned by Healthier Colorado in June of this year, we found a staggering 69% of Coloradans support the pop-up notifications our bill requires. Voters are on our side, and we need you to join us as we continue advocating for the well-being of Colorado’s children and teens. 

It’s us against these multi-billion-dollar social media companies. We defeated them once, when they did everything in their power to prevent this bill from becoming law. Now, it is in our hands to do it again. It’s time we put our kids’ mental health above social media companies’ profit.