South Carolina H 3567: Deni Mitchell

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3567 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 12, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3567

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING CHAPTER 
31 TO TITLE 37 SO AS TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; PROVIDE THAT LARGE SOCIAL MEDIA 
PLATFORM PROVIDERS SHALL CREATE, MAINTAIN, AND MAKE AVAILABLE TO ANY THIRD-PARTY 
SAFETY SOFTWARE PROVIDER A SET OF THIRD-PARTY ACCESSIBLE REAL TIME APPLICATION 
PROGRAMMING INTERFACES; PROVIDE FOR REGISTRATION; PROVIDE FOR GUIDANCE FOR 
THIRD-PARTY SAFETY SOFTWARE PROVIDERS; PROVIDE FOR GUIDANCE FOR LARGE SOCIAL 
MEDIA PLATFORMS; PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS FROM LIABILITY; PROVIDE FOR THE 
DISCLOSURE OF DATA; AND PROVIDE FOR ENFORCEMENT.

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

SECTION 1. Title 37 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

CHAPTER 31

Third-Party Safety Software Providers

 Section 
37-31-10. As used in this chapter:

 (1) 
"Child" means any individual under the age of seventeen years who has 
registered an account with a large social media platform.

 (2) 
"Commerce" has the same meaning given in section 4 of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 44).

 (3) 
"Department" means the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.

 (4)(a) "Large social media platform" means 
a service:

 (i) 
provided through an internet website or a mobile application, or both;

 (ii) 
the terms of service of which do not prohibit the use of the service by a 
child;

 (iii) with any features that enable a 
child to share images, text, or video through the internet with other users of 
the service whom the child has met, identified, or become aware of solely 
through the use of the service; and

 (iv) 
that has more than one hundred million monthly global active users or generates 
more than one billion dollars in gross revenue each year, adjusted yearly for 
inflation.

 (b) 
The term "large social media platform" does not include:

 (i) 
a service that primarily serves to facilitate the sale or provision of 
professional services or the sale of commercial products or to provide news or 
information where the service does not offer the ability for content to be sent 
by a user directly to a child; or

 (ii) 
a service that has a feature that enables a user who communicates directly with 
a child through a message, including a text, audio, or video message, not 
otherwise available to other users of the service to add other users to that 
message that the child may not have otherwise met, identified, or become aware 
of solely through the use of the service and does not have any features 
described in subitem (a).

 (5) 
"Large social media platform provider" means any person who, for commercial 
purposes in or affecting commerce, provides, manages, operates, or controls a 
large social media platform.

 (6) 
"Third-party safety software provider" means any person who, for commercial 
purposes in or affecting commerce, is authorized by a child, if the child is 
thirteen years of age or older, or a parent or legal guardian of a child, to 
interact with a large social media platform to manage the online interactions, 
content, or account settings of the child for the sole purpose of protecting the 
child from harm, including physical or emotional harm.

 (7) 
"User data" means any information needed to have a profile on a large social 
media platform or content on a large social media platform, including images, 
video, audio, or text, that is created by or sent to a child on or through the 
account of the child with such platform, but only if the information or content 
is created by or sent to the child while a delegation pursuant to Section 
37-31-20 is in effect with respect to the account and during a thirty-day 
period beginning on the date on which the information or content is created by 
or sent to the child.

 Section 
37-31-20. (A) Before January 1, 
2026, in the case of a service that is a large social media platform, or not 
later than thirty days after a service becomes a large social media platform, 
in the case of a service that becomes a large social media platform after 
January 1, 2026, the large social media platform provider shall create, 
maintain, and make available to any third-party safety software provider 
registered with the department pursuant to Section 37-31-30 a set of 
third-party-accessible real time application programming interfaces, including 
any information necessary to use the interfaces, by which a child, if the child 
is thirteen years of age or older, or a parent or legal guardian of a child, 
may delegate permission to the third-party safety software provider to:

 (1) 
manage the online interactions, content, and account settings of the child on 
the large social media platf