South Carolina H 4591: Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media

Bill Text

South Carolina General Assembly

126th Session, 2025-2026



A237, R251, H4591



STATUS INFORMATION



General Bill

Sponsors: Reps. Guffey, Pope, Oremus, Martin, Schuessler, Sessions, T. Moore, Chapman, Lawson, Brewer, Ford, Pedalino, Ligon, Robbins, Terribile, Huff, Govan, Wickensimer, Lastinger, W. Newton, Hewitt, Calhoon and Gibson

Companion/Similar bill(s): 1103

Document Path: LC-0456SA26.docx



Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026

Introduced in the Senate on April 1, 2026

Last Amended on May 14, 2026


Currently residing in the House

Governor's Action: May 19, 2026, Signed



Summary: Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media





HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS



	Date	Body	Action Description with journal page number	

	12/16/2025	House	Prefiled
 

	12/16/2025	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary

	1/13/2026	House	Introduced and read first time (House Journal‑page 31)

	1/13/2026	House	Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal‑page 31)

	1/21/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor:
 Schuessler, Sessions
 

	1/22/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: T.
 Moore, Chapman, Lawson, Brewer, Ford, 
 Pedalino, Ligon, Robbins
 

	1/28/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor:
 Terribile, Huff
 

	2/5/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Govan, 
 Wickensimer
 

	3/25/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Lastinger
 

	3/26/2026	House	Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary (House Journal‑page 5)

	3/31/2026		Scrivener's error corrected
 

	3/31/2026	House	Member(s) request name added as sponsor: W.
 Newton, Hewitt, Calhoon, Gibson
 

	3/31/2026	House	Amended (House Journal‑page 269)

	3/31/2026	House	Read second time (House Journal‑page 269)

	3/31/2026	House	Roll call Yeas-114  Nays-0 (House Journal‑page 274)

	4/1/2026	House	Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal‑page 17)

	4/1/2026	Senate	Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal‑page 18)

	4/1/2026	Senate	Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry (Senate Journal‑page 18)

	5/12/2026	Senate	Recalled from Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry (Senate Journal‑page 3)

	5/13/2026	Senate	Amended (Senate Journal‑page 67)

	5/13/2026	Senate	Read second time (Senate Journal‑page 67)

	5/14/2026		Scrivener's error corrected
 

	5/14/2026	Senate	Amended (Senate Journal‑page 104)

	5/14/2026	Senate	Read third time and returned to House with amendments (Senate Journal‑page 104)

	5/14/2026	Senate	Roll call Ayes-42  Nays-1 (Senate Journal‑page 104)

	5/14/2026	House	Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled (House Journal‑page 58)

	5/14/2026	House	Roll call Yeas-115  Nays-0 (House Journal‑page 59)

	5/15/2026		Ratified R 251
 

	5/19/2026		Signed By Governor
 

	6/5/2026		Effective date 01/01/27
 

	6/3/2026		Act No. 237
 



View the latest  legislative information  at the website





VERSIONS OF THIS BILL



12/17/2025

03/26/2026

03/31/2026

03/31/2026-A

05/12/2026

05/13/2026

05/14/2026

05/14/2026-A

























(A237, R251, H4591)



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.



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



Citation 



SECTION 1.	This act may be cited as the “Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media (SHASM) Act.”



Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media



SECTION 2.	Chapter 5, Title 39 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:



Article 9



Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media



	Section 39‑5‑910.	As used in this article:

		(1) “Account holder” means a South Carolina resident who has an account or a profile with a covered social media platform that is associated by the covered social media platform with a unique identifier during any period in which a covered social media platform knows or should reasonably know is physically located in this State.

		(2) “Addictive interface features” means:

			(a) infinite scrolling, which means:

				(i) continuously loading content, or content that loads as the account holder scrolls down the page without the need to open a separate page; or

				(ii) seamless content or the use of pages with no visible or apparent end or page breaks;

			(b) display of a profile‑based feed;

			(c) push notifications, whether audible, visual, or tactile, designed to call the attention of the account holder to newly posted content, or to user responses to content posted by the account holder, or to inform the account holder about other specific activities or events related to the account holder’s account. Push notifications do not include a notification for the purpose of alert