South CarolinaH 4591126th General Assembly (2025-2026)House

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT THE "STOP HARM FROM ADDICTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA (SHASM) ACT" BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 TO CHAPTER 5, TITLE 39 SO AS TO REQUIRE COVERED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO USE REASONABLE MEANS TO ESTIMATE THE AGE OF CERTAIN ACCOUNT HOLDERS, TO VERIFY THE AGE OF CERTAIN ACCOUNT HOLDERS, TO CREATE DEFAULT ACCOUNT SETTINGS FOR CERTAIN USERS, AND TO CREATE CERTAIN PARENTAL CONSENTS.

Sponsored By: Brandon Guffey (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Summary

Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Your right to sue and void terms

Beginning January 1, 2027, a child or parent can sue a covered platform for negligent, reckless, or knowing violations. Courts can order fixes and award damages, including for mental‑health and emotional distress, plus court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. For reckless or knowing violations, you can get the greater of $10,000 or your actual damages. Repeated reckless or knowing conduct can also lead to punitive damages. A platform is not liable if it used reasonable means and reasonable efforts to comply. You must sue within three years after you knew or should have known of the violation, and the clock pauses while the child is a minor. Any contract tied to a child’s account is void if there was no parental consent sufficient to form a binding contract under South Carolina law. That includes arbitration clauses and limits on liability or remedies. Any waiver of this law’s protections is unlawful and unenforceable. The South Carolina Attorney General can also investigate and enforce this law.

Age checks, parental consent, shutdowns

Beginning January 1, 2027, platforms must estimate age within 14 days after a user spends 25 hours in six months. They can treat the user as not a child only with at least 80% confidence that the user is over 15. After 50 hours in six months, the threshold rises to 90%. Platforms must update the estimate after each additional 100 hours or when they update their analytics. At sign‑up, platforms must ask for a birth date and cannot auto‑fill it. They may not create or change a child’s account without verifiable parental consent. Data collected only to get consent must be used just for consent and then deleted unless a law requires keeping it. If an account is found to be a child’s and there is no parental consent, the platform must end it. It must do so within 7 days of the account holder’s request or within 14 days of a verified parent’s request. If ending the account for lack of consent, the platform must give notice within 7 days. The account holder has 30 days to dispute the age or provide consent. After verification, the platform must decide within 30 days and, if needed, terminate within 7 days. Platforms do not have to collect new data just to estimate age. Accounts that existed for 7 straight years by January 1, 2027 do not need age estimates.

Stronger privacy and fewer addictive features

Starting January 1, 2027, child accounts must default to the most private settings. Any change needs verifiable parental consent. When asking for consent, platforms must offer a parent dashboard. It shows time used and lets parents set daily and weekly limits and allowed times of day. Platforms cannot show addictive features to child accounts, like infinite scroll, auto‑play video, push notifications, personal usage metrics, or badges. Platforms also cannot show profile‑based paid ads to children. Personal information for targeting includes browsing and app activity, photos or biometrics used to identify you, and location. It does not include your current search terms, IDs used only for private messages, or privacy or accessibility settings.

Which platforms and kids are covered

Starting January 1, 2027, the rules apply to social media companies with at least $1 billion in yearly ad revenue in any of the past three years. A "child" means a South Carolina resident under age 16. If a platform meets the threshold, all child‑safety rules in this law apply to it.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Brandon Guffey
Republican • House

Cosponsors

Gary S. Brewer, Jr.
Republican • House
Paula Rawl Calhoon
Republican • House
Donald G. "Don" Chapman
Republican • House
Greg Ford
Republican • House
Daniel Gibson
Republican • House
Jerry N. Govan, Jr.
Democrat • House
Lee Hewitt
Republican • House
William C. "Chris" Huff
Republican • House
John T. Lastinger, Jr.
Republican • House
M. Brian Lawson
Republican • House
Thomas R. "Randy" Ligon
Republican • House
David Martin
Republican • House
Melissa Lackey Oremus
Republican • House
Fawn M. Pedalino
Republican • House
Thomas E. "Tommy" Pope
Republican • House
Robby Robbins
Republican • House
Carla M. Schuessler
Republican • House
Heath Sessions
Republican • House
Travis A. Moore
Republican • House
Jackie R. Terribile
Republican • House
Wm. Weston J. Newton
Republican • House
Paul B. Wickensimer
Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 385 • No: 1

Senate vote • 5/14/2026

(Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media)3rd Reading

Yes: 42 • No: 1

House vote • 5/14/2026

(Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media)Concur in Senate Amendments

Yes: 115 • No: 0

House vote • 3/31/2026

(Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media)Passage of Bill

Yes: 114 • No: 0