South Carolina H 4779: Anti-Doxxing Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4779 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4779

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 SECTION 
16-3-1093 SO AS TO CREATE DOXING AS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE AND TO PROVIDE 
PENALTIES.

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

SECTION 1. Article 11, Chapter 3, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
16-3-1093. (A) For the purposes of 
this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

 (1) 
"Firefighter" means any person, paid or unpaid, who engages in rescue, fire 
suppression, or related activities, under the supervision of a fire chief or 
fire department in this State or who is employed by the South Carolina Forestry 
Commission, State Fire Marshall, or a forestry district for the purpose of fire 
protection.

 (2) 
"Governmental function" means the provision of essential daily services that 
include law enforcement, fire, sanitation, water, and parks, while also 
managing land use, issuing permits, and promoting economic development within 
the governmental entity's jurisdiction. Key functions also include running public 
utilities, maintaining roads, enforcing local ordinances, and operating public 
facilities such as libraries and schools, all with the goal of meeting local 
needs and improving the quality of life for residents.

 (3) 
"Law enforcement officer" means an appointed officer or employee hired by and 
regularly on the payroll of the State or any of its political subdivisions, who 
is granted statutory authority to enforce all or some of the criminal, traffic, 
and penal laws of the State and who possesses, with respect to those laws, the 
power to effect arrests for offenses committed or alleged to have been 
committed.

 (4) 
"Personal identifying information" includes, but is not limited to:

 (a) 
home address;

 (b) 
photographs or information of a victim's children, including the schools he 
attends; or

 (c) 
any other information that would enable a victim to be harassed, threatened, or 
harmed.

 (5) 
"Public servant" means a government official or employee.

 (B) It 
is unlawful to:

 (1) 
intentionally electronically publish, post, or provide personal identifying 
information of an individual, with the intent that other persons will use that 
information to harass or harm the individual, and the individual is actually 
harassed or harmed; or

 (2) 
intentionally electronically publish, post, or provide personal identifying 
information of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or public servant, with 
the intent that other persons will use that information to harass, harm, or 
impede the duties of the law enforcement officer, firefighter, or public 
servant, and the law enforcement officer, firefighter, or public servant is 
actually harassed, harmed, or impeded from performing his governmental 
function.

 (C) A 
person convicted of a provision contained in subsection (B):

 (1) 
for a first offense, is guilty of the misdemeanor crime of doxing and must be 
imprisoned not more than three years; or

 (2) 
for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of the felony crime of doxing and 
must be imprisoned not more than twenty years.

 (D) 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit:

 (1) 
political speech protected by the First Amendment of the United States 
Constitution; or

 (2) 
the publication of contact information of public officials by any individual or 
organization for the purpose of encouraging citizens to lobby public officials 
for or against any policy or legislative act. For purposes of this subsection, "contact 
information" means an official address, email, or telephone number used by the 
public official for his public service.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on December 17, 2025 at 01:49 PM