NetChoice v. Wilson, filed February 2026; law in force
South Carolina Age-Appropriate Design Code (H.3431)
BadLawSouth Carolina H.3431
South Carolina, United StatesHigh threat
South Carolina, United StatesHigh threatIn force since Feb 2026; NetChoice injunction motion pending
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- Became Law
Stage 4 of 4: Became Law
The fifth state kids code, and the harshest: effective the day it was signed, treble damages, and personal liability for employees.
Latest update
Signed by Governor McMaster; took effect immediately
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Take action on this issueWhat it does
Signed February 5, 2026 and effective immediately, with no cure period. The duties to minors apply when a service has actual knowledge that a user is under 18, which includes self-identified age and any age the service attributes to a user for marketing or advertising; services directed to children under COPPA must treat all users as minors unless they know otherwise. Covered online services must exercise reasonable care in design and in their use of minors' data, undergo annual third-party audits with public reports due each July 1, and face treble damages for violations. Officers and employees can be held personally liable for willful violations. NetChoice has already filed suit.
What’s at stake
The earlier kids codes gave companies a runway; South Carolina's switched on at the governor's signature. Personal liability for employees is new to this fight: the pressure now lands on individual staff as well as the company. Add it to California, Maryland, Vermont, and Nebraska and the design-code map now runs coast to coast through both parties.
Our take
The versions get harsher state by state. South Carolina skipped the grace period, tripled the damages, and pointed the liability at individual employees. The law requires no age checks and reaches only users a service actually knows are minors, yet with treble damages and personal liability riding on that knowledge, a cautious platform may start checking ages anyway.
Timeline
Signed by Governor McMaster; took effect immediatelyLatest
Votes
- House — Final passage (112 to 0)
- Senate — Passed unanimously; concurred · January 21, 2026
Legal challenges
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