Law / United States / 
South Carolina
South Carolina Age-Appropriate Design Code, general applicability and minor-protective design duties
S.C. Code Ann. secs. 39-80-10 et seq. (Act No. 96 of 2026, H. 3431)
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What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force 8 months, effective 5 February 2026.
A data subject rights rule binding private bodies.
As of 28 August 2026.
What it requires
- Determine whether your online service is reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor under 18 before relying on any Age-Appropriate Design Code exemption.
- Apply default privacy settings and limit profiling, targeted advertising, and precise-geolocation collection for a known minor user, and provide parental controls.
- Cite S.C. Code Ann. Chapter 80 of Title 39 or Act No. 96 of 2026 (H. 3431) directly. The online consolidated Code page for this chapter does not yet resolve, and H. 3402, a similarly named but different and unenacted bill, is not this law.
Who checks it
Audit expectation
periodic
Who audits it
Independent third party
Where the report goes
Filed with regulator, Published
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
The Age-Appropriate Design Code applies to a covered online service reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor (a person under 18). It is not a general controller or processor personal-data regime; it imposes design and data-minimization duties specifically toward minor users, including default privacy settings, limits on profiling, targeted advertising, and precise-geolocation collection for known minors, parental controls, and an annual public report by an independent auditor.
The Act was enacted as Act No. 96 of 2026 (H. 3431, the South Carolina Social Media Regulation Act on its own caption) and creates Chapter 80 of Title 39; it took effect immediately upon the Governor's approval on February 5, 2026. It is not to be confused with H. 3402, a different, still-pending bill sharing the short title 'Age-Appropriate Design,' which would have created Chapter 79 and never advanced past referral to House Judiciary.
The consolidated online Code of Laws has not yet published Chapter 80; the session-law text of Act No. 96 is the authoritative current source.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
official South Carolina session law text, Act No. 96 of 2026 (H. 3431), South Carolina Legislature website
the consolidated Code of Laws page for Chapter 80 is not yet live
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.