S0268 creates a new chapter in Title 39 of the South Carolina Code, called the Age-Appropriate Code Design chapter, aimed at regulating how covered online services design products and handle minors’ personal data. The bill applies to larger online services that do business in South Carolina and are reasonably likely to be accessed by minors, and it defines a wide range of terms including child, minor, personal data, sensitive personal data, targeted advertising, precise geolocation information, covered design features, and personalized recommendation systems.
The bill requires covered online services to exercise reasonable care in their use of minors’ data and in the design and operation of their services to prevent harms such as compulsive use, severe psychological harm, emotional distress, privacy intrusions, identity theft, discrimination, and material financial or physical injury. It also limits data collection to the minimum necessary, restricts targeted advertising to minors, limits profiling, restricts collection of precise geolocation data, and prohibits certain push notifications during overnight hours and school hours. In addition, services must provide minors with easy-to-use controls over communication, privacy, recommendation systems, purchases, screen time, and location sharing, and must give parents tools to manage accounts, limit use, and monitor activity.
The bill also imposes transparency and reporting obligations. Covered online services must provide prominent disclosures about their safety and privacy practices for minors, establish reporting mechanisms for parents, minors, and schools, and submit an annual public report prepared by an independent third-party auditor describing their practices as they relate to minors, including data use, design features, age-verification methods, and algorithms. Enforcement is assigned to the Attorney General, and violations can result in treble damages; officers and employees may also face personal liability for willful and wanton violations. The bill states that it supplements existing law and that, where conflicts arise, the law providing the greatest protection to minors controls.
The general sentiment reflected in the available legislative history appears strongly supportive, as the Senate passed second reading on April 30, 2025 by a 43-0 vote. The unanimous vote suggests broad agreement on the goal of increasing online safety and privacy protections for children and teens, and there is no recorded committee transcript showing opposition or debate in the provided materials.
The main points of contention likely concern the scope and compliance burden of the bill rather than its overall purpose. The measure reaches large online platforms and includes requirements affecting product design, recommendation algorithms, advertising, geolocation, parental controls, and auditing, which could raise concerns from technology companies about implementation costs, operational complexity, and potential liability exposure. The bill’s use of broad concepts such as reasonable care, dark patterns, profiling, and covered design features may also be areas where stakeholders could dispute interpretation or enforcement.
This bill would add a new chapter to Title 39 governing age-appropriate online design and data practices for certain covered online services operating in South Carolina. It would create new statutory duties for platforms that are likely to be accessed by minors, including limits on data collection and use, restrictions on targeted advertising and profiling, default safety settings, parental control tools, mandatory disclosures, annual third-party audits, and Attorney General enforcement with enhanced damages. It would also interact with existing privacy, consumer protection, and common-law rules by stating that the new chapter is cumulative and that the most protective law for minors controls in the event of a conflict.
The available voting history indicates strong bipartisan or at least broad chamber support, with the Senate advancing the bill on second reading by a 43-0 vote. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to suggest organized opposition in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have been received positively as a child-safety and privacy measure.
The likely areas of contention are the bill’s regulatory reach and compliance obligations for online platforms. Technology companies and other covered services may object to the breadth of the definitions, the restrictions on recommendation systems, targeted advertising, notifications, and profiling, and the requirement for annual independent audits and public reporting. There may also be concern about the bill’s liability provisions, including treble damages and personal liability for officers and employees, as well as how the law will be interpreted and enforced in practice. Supporters, by contrast, are likely focused on reducing harms to minors and giving parents stronger tools to manage online activity.