Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed House Bill 26-1255 Thursday, legislation that would have required social media companies to notify law enforcement when they restrict or suspend user accounts over threatening posts.
EVERGREEN, Colo. — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday vetoed legislation that would have required social media companies to notify law enforcement when they restrict or suspend user accounts over threatening posts.
House Bill 26-1255 was created after the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting at Evergreen High School.
"It's crazy, because when you ask me, it takes me back to that day, and I could, I could cry," Evergreen High School parent Kim Halligan said. More than six months after the shooting, Halligan said the initial chaos has given way to a new emotion.
"We're all just disappointed," Halligan said. In his veto letter, Polis pointed to"considerable concerns," saying he was"troubled with the bill's ambiguity regarding what types of content triggers scrutiny under this law.
" Full veto letter: "Unfortunately, what this bill does is it goes in a direction that would really stifle free speech on all those online forums by creating an incentive where companies would effectively turn over lots of records to law enforcement without it having even violated the law," Polis told Denver7 in an interview Friday. Halligan believes the bill could have prevented the Evergreen High shooting during which a student shot and injured two of his classmates before turning the gun on himself..
"Based on police reports, there were warning signs, and there were there were signals, but the systems in place were not equipped to respond quickly enough," Halligan said. "This bill, if in place, would have prevented what happened that day. " In his veto letter, Polis also pointed to a separate bill he signed in March requiring social network companies to comply with warrants within 72 hours, rather than the 24-hour window proposed in the vetoed bill. Colorado state Rep.
Tammy Story, the bill's main sponsor, said the intent behind the legislation remains clear.
"The whole goal of this policy is to better protect communities and to save lives," Story said. Story and Halligan are vowing to try again next legislative session, under new leadership.
"No family should ever experience what ours did," Halligan said. This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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