CDT’s Dr. Michal Luria Testifies Before Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee on “Protections for Users of Social Media” Bill
On February 19th, CDT testified in response to a bill introduced in the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee, “Protections for Users of Social Media” (SB-25-086), focused on the need to protect users, primarily users under the age of 18, on social media platforms.
Dr. Luria’s testimony takes an evidence-based approach to the topic, highlighting some areas of agreement, as well as gaps in research on the topic. CDT commends the efforts to address online safety for children and supports initiatives towards effective solutions. However, based on the existing evidence, our testimony highlights that:
- Youth utilize social media to connect with peers, feel accepted, and express themselves creatively — activities that are healthy and developmentally appropriate.
- The bill suggests using notifications to inform minors about the impacts of social media on their health, while current research on this topic is limited and often contradictory. This uncertainty raises concerns about the effectiveness of notifications, which may oversimplify complex issues and fail to provide meaningful guidance.
- The bill centers the measure of time spent online, but experts agree that “screen time” is an unreliable proxy of harm. Instead, researchers recommend focusing on the nature of activities; interaction with peers, for example, may impact users in a different way than content consumption.
- A key strategy for enhancing safety online, based on CDT’s own research, is to enhance young users’ safety by equipping them with more tools to navigate online risks, empowering them to protect themselves instead of taking away their agency.
- Following evidence from a recent research symposium hosted by CDT, we support the need for social media platforms to make data more accessible for research purposes. With some platforms retreating from data-sharing initiatives, there may be an opportunity to pass legislation that would enable vetted researchers to study, in a privacy protecting way, critical questions related to children’s and all users’ safety online.
