H 5209

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 5209
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS
BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 TO CHAPTER 5, TITLE 39 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT SOCIAL MEDIA
COMPANIES SHALL VERIFY THE AGE OF ACCOUNT HOLDERS, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN
REQUIREMENTS FOR MINOR ACCOUNT HOLDERS, TO PROVIDE FOR PARENTAL CONSENT, TO
PROVIDE THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY RECEIVE COMPLAINTS, TO PROVIDE FOR A
PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION, AND TO PROVIDE FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Chapter 5, Title 39 of the
S.C. Code is amended by adding:
Article 9
South Carolina
Social Media Regulation
    Section
39-5-910.  As used in this article:
    (1) "Account holder" means a person who
has, or opens, an account or profile to use a social media company's platform.
    (2) "Interactive computer service"
means an information service, information system, or information access
software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to
a computer server and provides access to the internet. An interactive computer
service includes a web service, a web system, a website, a web application, or
a web portal.
    (3) "Minor" means an individual under
circumstances where a social media company reasonably believes or has actual
knowledge that the individual is under the age of sixteen. A social media
company shall treat an individual as a minor if the social media company
verifies that the individual is under the age of sixteen as provided in this
chapter.
    (4) "Office" means the South Carolina
Office of Attorney General.
    (5) "Post" means content that an
account holder makes available on a social media platform for other account
holders or users to view.
    (6) "Social media company" means a
person or entity that provides a social media platform that has at least five
million account holders worldwide and is an interactive computer service.
    (7)(a) "Social media platform" means a
public or semipublic internet-based service or application that has users in
South Carolina and that meets all of the following:
  (i) The service or application connects
users in order to allow users to interact socially with each other within the
service or application. A service or application that provides email or direct
messaging services, enterprise cloud storage services, enterprise cybersecurity
services, educational devices, or enterprise collaboration tools for K-12
schools are not considered to meet this criterion on the basis of that function
alone.
  (ii) The service or application allows
users to do all of the following:
  (A) construct a public or semipublic
profile for the purposes of signing into and using the service or application;
  (B) populate a list of other users with
whom an individual shares a social or virtual connection within the system,
including subscribing to content related to another user; and
  (C) create or post content viewable by
other users including, but not limited to, on message boards, in chat rooms, on
video channels, or through a landing page or main feed that presents the user
with content generated by other users.
       (b) "Social media platform" may not
include an online service, website, or application where the predominant or
exclusive function is any of the following:
  (i) electronic mail;
  (ii) a service that, pursuant to its
terms of use, does not permit minors to use the platform and utilizes
commercially reasonable age assurance mechanisms to attempt to prohibit minors
from becoming an account holder or user;
  (iii) a streaming service that
provides only licensed media in a continuous flow from the service, website, or
application to the end user and does not obtain a license to the media from a
user or account holder by agreement to its terms of service;
  (iv) news, sports, entertainment, or
other content that is preselected by the provider and not user generated, and
any chat, comment, or interactive functionality that is provided incidental to,
directly related to, or dependent upon provisions of the content;
  (v) online shopping, electronic
commerce, or self-service support if the interaction with other users or
account holders is generally limited to the ability to upload a post and
comment on reviews, the ability to seek support related to products or services,
the ability to display lists or collections of goods for sale or wish lists, or
any other function that is focused on online shopping, electronic commerce, or
self-service support rather than interaction between users or account holders;
  (vi) interactive gaming, virtual
gaming, or an online service that allows the creation and uploading of content
and the communication related to that content for the purpose of interactive
gaming, educational entertainment, or associated entertainment;
  (vii) photograph editing that has an
associated photograph hosting service if the interaction with other users or
account holders is generally limited to liking or commenting;
  (viii) single-purpose community
groups for public safety if the interaction with other users or account holders
is limited to that single purpose and the community group has guidelines or
policies against illegal content;
  (ix) career development opportunities,
including professional networking, job skills, learning certifications, and job
posting and application services;
  (x) business-to-business software;
  (xi) a teleconferencing or
videoconferencing service that allows reception and transmission of audio and
video signals for real-time communication;
  (xii) cloud storage;
  (xiii) shared document
collaboration;
  (xiv) cloud computing services, which
may include cloud storage and shared document collaboration;
  (xv) providing access to or
interacting with data visualization platforms, libraries, or hubs;
  (xvi) permitting comments on digital
news website if the news content is posted by only the provider of the digital
news website;
  (xvii) providing or obtaining
technical support for a platform product or service;
  (xviii) academic,
scholarly, or genealogical research;
  (xix) internet access and broadband
service;
  (xx) a classified advertising service
in which the provider of the online service, website, or application is limited
to all of the following:
  (A) permitting only the sale of goods;
  (B) prohibiting the solicitation of
personal service;
  (C) posting or creating a substantial
amount of the content; and
  (D) providing the ability to chat,
comment, or interact with other users only if it is directly related to the
provider's content;
  (xxi) an online service, website, or
application that is used by or under the direction of an educational entity,
including a learning management system, a student engagement program, or a
subject or skill-specific program, where the majority of the content is created
or posted by the provider of the online service, website, or application and
the ability to chat, comment, or interact with other users is directly related
to the provider's content.
    (8) "South Carolina account holder"
means a person who is a resident of South Carolina and an account holder,
including a South Carolina minor account holder.
    (9) "South Carolina minor account
holder" means a South Carolina account holder who is a minor.
    (10) "South Carolina resident" means
an individual who currently resides in South Carolina.
    (11) "User" means a person who has
access to view all, or some of, the posts on a social media platform, but is
not an account holder.
    Section
39-5-920.  (A) Beginning March 1,
2027, a social media company shall make commercially reasonable efforts to
verify the age of South Carolina account holders with a level of certainty
appropriate to the risks that arise from the information management practices
of the social media company or apply the accommodations afforded to minors
pursuant to this chapter to all account holders.
    (B) A social media company may not
permit a South Carolina resident who is a minor to be an account holder on the
social media company's social media platform unless the minor has the express
consent of a parent or guardian. Acceptable methods of obtaining express
consent from a parent or guardian include any of the following:
       (1) providing a form for the minor's
parent or guardian to sign and return to the digital service provider by common
carrier, facsimile, or electronic;
       (2) providing a toll-free telephone
number for the minor's parent or guardian to call to consent;
       (3) coordinating a call with a minor's
parent or guardian over video conferencing technology;
       (4) collecting information related to
the government-issued identification of the minor's parent or guardian and
deleting that information after confirming the identity of the minor's parent
or guardian;
       (5) allowing the minor's parent or
guardian to provide consent by responding to an email and taking additional
steps to verify the identity of the minor's parent or guardian; or
       (6) any other commercially reasonable
method of obtaining consent in light of available technology.
    (C) Notwithstanding any other provision
of this chapter, a social media company may not permit a South Carolina
resident who is a minor to hold or open an account on a social media platform
if the minor is ineligible to hold or open an account pursuant to any other
provision of state or federal law.
    (D) Any information collected by the
social media company or its agent as a result of complying with the
requirements of this article only may be retained for the purpose of compliance
with this article and may not be used for any other purpose. Once the social
media company or its agent has complied with the requirements of this article,
the social media company shall securely dispose of any information obtained as
a result of compliance with the requirements of this article.
    Section
39-5-930.  Beginning March 1, 2027, for a South
Carolina minor account holder, a social media company shall:
    (1) prohibit adults from direct
messaging a South Carolina minor account holder unless the minor is already
connected to the adult on the service;
    (2) prohibit the display of any
advertising in the account based on the South Carolina minor account holder's
personal information, except age and location;
    (3) prohibit the collection or use of
personal information from the posts, content, messages, text, or usage
activities of the account other than information beyond what is adequate,
relevant, and reasonably necessary in relation to the purposes for which such
information is collected, as disclosed;
    (4) make commercially reasonable
efforts to develop a policy or mechanism to filter and prevent access by minor
account holders to content that does any of the following:
       (a) advocates for the use of force, is
directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action, and is likely to
incite or produce such action;
       (b) advocates for self-harm, is
directed to inciting or producing imminent self-harm, or is likely to incite or
produce such action;
       (c) advocates for the destruction of
personal or public property within a school setting in South Carolina; or
       (d) displays visual depictions of
sexual conduct as that term is defined in Section 16-15-305(C)(1); and
    (5) report to the State Law Enforcement
Division, local law enforcement agencies, and local
school districts, as appropriate, any content posted by minors in
South Carolina that is in violation of this section.
    Section
39-5-940.  Beginning March 1, 2027, a social media company shall provide a
parent or guardian who has given parental consent for a South Carolina minor
account holder as provided in this chapter with a means for the minor account
holder or the parent or guardian to initiate account supervision. Such
supervision must include the ability for the parent to view privacy settings of
the minor's account, view the list of other users with whom the minor shares a
social or virtual connection within the system, set daily time limits for the
service, schedule breaks, and offer the minor the option to set up parental
notifications when the minor reports a person or issue.
    Section
39-5-950.  (A) The Office of
Attorney General may receive complaints alleging a violation of this chapter.
    (B) The Office of Attorney General may
investigate any complaint to determine whether a violation has occurred.
    Section
39-5-960.  Except for a private right of action pursuant to Section 39-5-890,
the Office of Attorney General has the exclusive authority to administer and
enforce the requirements of this chapter.
    Section
39-5-970.  (A) The Office of
Attorney General shall compile an annual report that contains an accounting of
all of the following information:
       (1) all administrative fines and civil
penalties assessed during the year;
       (2) all administrative fines and civil
penalties collected during the year; and
       (3) the use of funds from all
administrative fines and civil penalties collected during the year.
    (B) The Office of Attorney General may
update or correct the report as new information becomes available.
    (C) The Office of Attorney General
shall maintain the report, which must be published on its website.
    Section
39-5-980.  (A) Beginning March 1,
2027, a person may bring an action against a person that does not comply with a
requirement of this chapter.
    (B) A suit filed pursuant to the
authority of this section must be filed in the circuit court for the circuit in
which a person bringing the action resides.
    (C) If a court finds that a person has
violated a provision of this chapter, the person who brings an action pursuant
to this section is entitled to:
       (1) an award of reasonable attorneys'
fees and court costs; and
       (2) an amount equal to the greater of:
  (a) two thousand five hundred dollars
for each incident of violation; or
  (b) actual damages for financial,
physical, and emotional harm incurred by the person bringing the action, if the
court determines that the harm is a direct consequence of the violation.
    Section
39-5-990.  (A)(1) By March 1, 2027,
the Department of Education shall develop model programs for educating students
regarding online safety while using the internet, taking into consideration
educational materials on this topic developed by other states as well as any
other materials suggested by educational experts, child psychologists, and
technology companies that promote child online safety issues.
       (2) The model programs provided for in
this subsection must include one or more model programs for students in grades
six through twelve which include instruction regarding the negative effects of
social media on the mental health of users including addiction; the ability of
social media to manipulate and influence thoughts and behaviors; the permanency
and risks of sharing materials online; ways to maintain personal security and
identify cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking on the internet
and social media; and ways to report suspicious behavior encountered on the internet
and social media to appropriate persons and authorities.
       (3) The Department of Education shall
periodically update the model programs provided for in this subsection to
reflect changes in internet and social media use, emergent technologies, social
and psychological research, and information concerning new threats to teenagers
and young adults using social media platforms and other online communication
technologies.
       (4) The Department of Education shall
publish on its website information relating to the model programs provided for
in this section, including recommended curricula and instructional materials.
    (B) Each local board of education may
incorporate into its instructional program a component on online internet
safety, including social media safety, to be taught on a schedule as determined
by the local board of education.
    Section
39-5-1000. A waiver or limitation, or a purported
waiver or limitation, of any of the following is void as unlawful, is against
public policy, and a court or arbitrator may not enforce or give effect to the
waiver, notwithstanding any contract or choice-of-law provision in a contract:
    (1) a protection or requirement
provided pursuant to this chapter;
    (2) the right to cooperate with the
division or to file a complaint with the division; or
    (3) the right to a private right of
action as provided pursuant to this chapter.
SECTION 2.  If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph,
sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be
unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the
constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the
General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each
and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause,
phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other
sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases,
or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise
ineffective.
SECTION
3.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on February 18, 2026 at 01:18 PM