South Carolina H 3405: App Store Accountability Act

Bill Text

South Carolina General Assembly

126th Session, 2025-2026



H. 3405



STATUS INFORMATION



General Bill

Sponsors: Reps. Guffey, Wooten, Pope, Martin and Oremus

Document Path: LC-0053SA25.docx



Introduced in the House on January 14, 2025

Currently residing in the House



Summary: App Store Accountability Act





HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS



	Date	Body	Action Description with journal page number	

	12/5/2024	House	Prefiled
 

	12/5/2024	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary

	1/14/2025	House	Introduced and read first time (House Journal‑page 192)

	1/14/2025	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal‑page 192)

	4/23/2025	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Martin
 

	1/13/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Oremus
 



View the latest  legislative information  at the website





VERSIONS OF THIS BILL



12/05/2024

























A bill



TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE “APP STORE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT” BY ADDING CHAPTER 31 TO TITLE 37 SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS, TO PROVIDE THAT APP STORE PROVIDERS DETERMINE CERTAIN AGE CATEGORIES AND CERTAIN PARENTAL CONSENT, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN INFORMATION MUST BE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED, TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS SHALL ISSUE CERTAIN GUIDANCE, TO PROVIDE FOR CONFLICTING SIGNALS, TO ESTABLISH AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE, TO PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT, AND TO PROVIDE FOR REMEDIES.



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:



SECTION 1.	This act may be cited as the “App Store Accountability Act.”



SECTION 2.	The General Assembly of South Carolina finds that:

		(1) Minors are not legally empowered in this State to enter into contracts or binding agreements without their parents or guardian’s consent.

		(2) Many internet apps allow in‑app purchases by minors without confirming that an adult has consented to such a purchase.

		(3) Many apps contain content the dissemination of which is illegal for minors such as obscene or sexually explicit material that is harmful to minors.

		(4) Many apps contain content that have addictive features and age‑inappropriate material such as violence or adult themes.

		(5) As many as ninety‑five percent of American teenagers own a smartphone and thus have access to apps through an app store.

		(6) Certain app stores offer some means for parents to oversee their minors’ use of apps but these efforts are generally inadequate.

		(7) Certain app stores offer some form of age rating for apps but those ratings have proven to be inaccurate, vague, deceptive, or otherwise unhelpful to parents.

		(8) Some developers claim to limit or prohibit use of their app by minors, but their policies are frequently not enforced or enforced inadequately to prevent children from accessing the apps.

		(9) There are online services that offer the capability to verify the age of a user of an app.

		(10) App stores can verify the age of their users if they choose to do so.

		(11) App store providers that also own the mobile operating system also publicly claim that they offer parental controls to limit the use of certain apps and filter sexually explicit material and fail to do so after the parent has employed those services. 

		(12) Requiring age verification by app store providers will empower parental oversight of minors’ use of apps while not limiting access to the apps by adults.

		(13) The technology industry has argued that industry‑initiated voluntary filtering or age verification is protecting children from apps that harm them, but this has been proven to be incorrect and inadequate.

		(14) This legislation seeks to ensure adults retain unimpeded access to content while providing protections for minors, with the understanding that parental involvement remains essential for safeguarding children online.

		(15) This legislation does not favor or benefit the products sold in this State or disfavor products produced in other states and available in this State, nor does it purport to regulate interstate commerce or commerce in other states or impose regulations governing conduct outside this State.

		(16) This legislation explicitly regulates only conduct occurring within this State.



SECTION 3.	Title 37 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:



CHAPTER 31



App Store Accountability



	Section 37‑31‑10.	As used in this Chapter:

		(1) “Age category” means the category of an individual based on their age, including:

			(a) “Legal adult” means an individual who is at least twenty‑one years of age.

			(b) “Adult” means an individual who is at least eighteen years of age and under the age of twenty‑one.

			(c) “Older teenager” means an individual who is at least seventeen years of age and under eighteen years of age.

			(d) “Teenager” means an individual who is at least thirteen years of age and is under seventeen years of age.

			(e) “Child” means an individual who is under the age of thirteen.

		(2) “App