Palmetto Plain

South Carolina · H.4591 / Act 237

Kids and social media (H.4591, Act 237): what the biggest platforms must do for South Carolina users under 16 starting Jan. 1, 2027

Signed May 19, 2026 ยท Takes effect Jan. 1, 2027

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The short version

  • Starting January 1, 2027, the largest social media platforms (those with at least $1 billion a year in worldwide advertising revenue) must estimate the age of South Carolina users once they spend 25 hours on the platform, and treat them as children (under 16) unless the platform is confident they are older.
  • Platforms must ask for a birth date at sign-up and get verifiable parental consent before creating or keeping an account for a child. Children's accounts must be set to the most private settings by default.
  • For children, platforms may not use "addictive interface features" such as infinite scrolling, profile-based feeds, push notifications about posts, autoplay video and like counts, and may not show ads targeted using the child's personal information.
  • Parents can ask for a dashboard to see and limit a child's time on the platform, and can have a child's account closed within 14 days. The Attorney General can enforce the law, and children or parents can sue.
Status
Law. Signed by the Governor May 19, 2026; ratified as R251, Act No. 237. Takes effect January 1, 2027.
Official source
SC Legislature, 2025-2026 Bill 4591 (Act No. 237), Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media (SHASM) Act
S.C. Code Title 39, Chapter 5 (South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act)

What it does

The act adds a new Article 9, “Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media,” to Chapter 5 of Title 39 of the S.C. Code. Its title says it requires covered social media platforms to estimate the age of certain account holders, verify the age of certain account holders, create default account settings for certain users and create certain parental consents. (Act No. 237, title; Section 2)

  • Which platforms. A “covered social media platform” is one that, with its parent, subsidiaries and affiliates, “collectively generated at least one billion dollars in advertising revenues annually, worldwide in one or more of the preceding three years.” Broadband service, services used only for messages between specific people (such as email, video calls or direct messages), and services whose content is mostly not generated by users are not “social media platforms” under the act. (§ 39-5-910(4), (13))
  • Who is a “child.” A South Carolina resident under 16. (§ 39-5-910(3))
  • Age estimates. Within 14 days after a user first reaches 25 hours on the platform within six months after the act takes effect, the platform must estimate the user’s age. It may treat the user as not a child only if it can conclude “with eighty percent confidence” that the user is over 15; otherwise it must treat the user as a child. At 50 hours, it must re-check, this time with 90% confidence, and it must update the estimate after every additional 100 hours (or more often if it updates other demographic estimates more often). (§§ 39-5-910(5), (12); 39-5-920(A)–(C)) The estimate must use information the platform already collects; the act does not require platforms to collect new information for it. For an account held continuously for at least seven years as of the effective date, the platform does not have to estimate the holder’s age or take any action on the account under the act. (§ 39-5-920(D)–(E))
  • Birth date and parental consent. Platforms must ask applicants for their birth date, with no pre-filled default, and may not create or keep an account for a child, or change its terms, without “verifiable parental consent” (the standard used in the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, plus documentation). Information collected to get consent can be used only for that and must then be deleted. (§§ 39-5-910(14); 39-5-930(A))
  • Private by default. A child’s account must have all privacy settings at the most private level, and they can’t be changed without parental consent while the user is a child. (§ 39-5-930(B)(1))
  • No “addictive” features or targeted ads for children. Platforms may not show children “addictive interface features”: infinite scrolling, a profile-based feed, push notifications about new posts or reactions (alerts for calls, texts, email or similar messages from people are allowed), autoplay video, counts of likes or shares on the child’s posts, and badges or awards based on time spent, followers or posting. They also may not show children ads chosen using the child’s personal information. (§§ 39-5-910(2), (10), (11); 39-5-930(C)–(D)) A feed made up of accounts the child chose to follow is not a “profile-based feed.” (§ 39-5-910(11)(a))

Who it affects

  • South Carolina children under 16 and their parents or legal guardians who use large social media platforms. (§ 39-5-910(1), (3), (8))
  • Large social media companies that meet the $1 billion advertising-revenue test. Smaller platforms are not covered. (§ 39-5-910(4))
  • The act says it does not limit the content a parent may show his or her children, and does not limit (beyond other law) what search engines return to a child. (§ 39-5-960)
  • This is a separate law from Act No. 96, the “South Carolina Social Media Regulation Act,” which took effect February 5, 2026. (SC Legislature, 2026 list of acts)

What it means for you

  • Parent tools. When asking a parent for consent, the platform must prominently offer an option to make consent conditional on a parent dashboard that lets the parent see how much time the child spends on the platform, set daily and weekly time limits, and set the times of day the child can use it. (§ 39-5-930(B)(2))
  • Closing a child’s account. A platform must close a child’s account within 7 days if the child asks, and within 14 days if a parent asks (after verifying the parent). It must give parents a “clear, simple, and easy-to-locate” way to ask. (§ 39-5-940(B)–(D))
  • If a platform thinks a user is under 16. Without parental consent, the platform must close the account. It must first notify the user within 7 days of deciding, give 30 days to dispute the age finding (through an age verification process) or provide parental consent, decide a dispute within 30 days, and close the account within 7 days if it still must. (§§ 39-5-940(A); 39-5-950)
  • Contracts. If a platform lets a child have an account without the kind of parental consent needed for a binding contract under state law, any contract terms for that account, including arbitration clauses and liability limits, are void. Waivers of the act’s protections are also void. (§§ 39-5-970; 39-5-1000)

Enforcement and penalties

  • Attorney General. A violation is a violation of Section 39-5-20 of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, and the Attorney General may investigate and enforce it. (§ 39-5-990; S.C. Code § 39-5-10)
  • Lawsuits by families. A child or parent may sue for negligent, reckless or knowing violations and seek injunctions, damages (including harm to mental health and emotional distress), court costs and attorney’s fees. For reckless or knowing violations, a winning child or parent gets the greater of $10,000 in statutory damages or actual damages; punitive damages are possible for a consistent pattern of reckless or knowing conduct. Suits must be filed within three years, with the time paused while the plaintiff is a minor. (§ 39-5-980(A)–(C), (E))
  • Defense for platforms. A platform is not liable to a child or parent if it used reasonable means and reasonable efforts, considering available technology and its data, to comply. (§ 39-5-980(D))
  • The act does not include a cost estimate.

Current status

H.4591 was prefiled December 16, 2025. The House passed it 114–0 on March 31, 2026. The Senate amended it and passed it 42–1 on May 14, 2026, and the House agreed to the Senate’s changes 115–0 the same day. It was ratified May 15 (R251) and signed by the Governor on May 19, 2026, as Act No. 237. (Bill history)

What happens next

The act takes effect January 1, 2027. (Act Section 4) The 25-hour and 50-hour age-estimate triggers count time spent on a platform within six months after that date. (§ 39-5-910(5), (12)) If any part of the act is held invalid, the rest stays in effect. (Act Section 3)

Sources

Legislators connected to this bill

Current members listed as sponsors on the official bill page, or with a sourced public statement about it. Details and sources are on each member page.

SC House

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Every statement above is drawn from the official source text linked here; section references are shown in grey. This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. Spot an error? Tell us.