Healthier Social Media Use by Youth

The bill requires the department of education (department) to create and maintain a resource bank of evidence-based, research-based, scholarly articles and promising program materials and curricula pertaining to the mental and physical health impacts of social media use by children and teens (youth). The resource bank will be used in elementary and secondary schools in the state. The department is required to convene a stakeholder group to assist in the creation of the resource bank.

The bill requires the department to expand local student wellness programs to include programs that address the impacts of problematic technology use on the mental and physical well-being of Colorado youth.

On or after January 1, 2026, the bill requires a social media platform to display a pop-up warning notification to a user who is under the age of 18 when the user:

• Has spent one hour on social media platforms in a 24-hour period; and or
• Is on a social media platform between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.warning

notification must state that include data shows that youth who spend more than 3 hours per day on social media double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including anxiety and depression symptoms on the public health impacts of social media use on the mental and physical health of youth users, from peer-reviewed scholarly articles included in the mental health and technology resource bank . The warning must include links to resources on the platform for setting screen time limits and links to the health-effect data. The bill appropriates $13,974 from the general fund to the department of education for use by the student learning division to implement the bill.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)