On February 5^th, 2026, the Governor of South Carolina signed the South Carolina Age Appropriate Code Design Act (SC AACDA) into law. The SC AACDA is the latest in a growing wave of state legislation seeking to regulate online services and impose new obligations on digital platforms. The SC AACDA generally aims to reduce online harms to minors by requiring digital services likely to be accessed by children or teens to design their products with minors’ privacy, safety, and wellbeing in mind. It targets risks such as excessive data collection, targeted advertising, profiling, manipulative design features, unwanted contact, harmful recommendation systems, location tracking, and other features that may expose minors to psychological, financial, physical, or privacy-related harm. The SC AACDA shifts responsibility onto online platforms to anticipate and mitigate foreseeable risks to minors rather than placing that burden primarily on children or parents.

Below we break down what you need to know about the SC AACDA.

When does the SC AACDA go into effect? 

The law was effective immediately upon signature (February 5, 2026). Unlike similar statutes enacted in other states, the SC AACDA does not provide a cure period, so compliance is expected immediately.

Who is covered by the SC AACDA? 

The SC AACDA applies to all “Covered Online Services.”

The SC AACDA defines an “Online Service” as any service, product, or feature that is accessible to the public on the internet.

Important Note: Early drafts of the bill had substantial carve-outs for online offerings like video games, career development platforms, and streaming services, aimed at limiting application of the act. These carve-outs were subsequently removed in the final version of the bill.

A “Covered Online Service” is any Online Service that is reasonably likely to be accessed by minors and that is operated by a company that, along with any parents, subsidiaries and affiliate companies meets one of the following criteria:

• It generates annual gross revenues in excess of $25,000,000;

• It annually transacts or shares the personal data of 50,000 or more consumers; or

• It derives at least 50% of its annual revenue from the sale or sharing of consumers’ personal data. 

How do I know if my Online Service is reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor? 

A Covered Online Service is “reasonably likely to be accessed by a minor” if

1. Individuals known to be minors are accessing the Online Service; or 

2. the Covered Online Service is directed to children, as defined under COPPA. 

To determine if an Online Service is directed to children under COPPA, the FTC will look at a large list of factors including the subject matter, visual content, use of animated characters, child-oriented activities or incentives, music or audio content, the age of models, use of child celebrities or those appealing to children, language, tone, empirical evidence surrounding the actual audience, and evidence regarding the intended audience (among others). The FTC has provided guidance addressing frequently asked questions about COPPA here.

So, I operate a Covered Online Service, what do I need to do? 

Data Handling and Privacy Obligations

Covered Online Services must exercise reasonable care when handling minors’ personal data. They are required to collect and retain only the data necessary to provide the service being used. Age-verification data must be deleted once it has served its purpose. Additionally, the highest privacy settings must be applied by default for minors.

Restrictions on Advertising and Profiling

Covered Online Services may not use targeted advertising directed at minors, profile known minors unless profiling is necessary to provide the service, or advertise age-restricted products or services to minors. They must also allow users to opt out of personalized recommendation systems and clearly explain how minors and parents can exercise that right.

Safety Tools and User Controls

Covered Online Services must provide minors with safety and user-control tools. These tools must allow users to:

• Block direct messages

• Restrict account visibility and location sharing

• Set spending limits

• Limit screen time

• Disable non-essential design features and push notifications

With respect to location data, services must disable precise geolocation collection by default unless necessary for the service and must notify minors when location data is being collected.

Parental Controls and Transparency

Covered Online Services must provide parental controls for account management, purchases, and usage limits. They must notify minors when parental monitoring is active, clearly explain available safety, privacy, and parental-control features, and provide mechanisms for reporting harms to minors.

Design Standards and Prohibited Practices

Covered Online Services may not use dark patterns that undermine user choice or decision-making. The SC AACDA also identifies certain “Covered Design Features” that must be employed with reasonable care to ensure the wellbeing of minors. These include features designed to incentivize excessive usage, such as daily streak mechanics, and features that could cause psychological, financial, or physical harm.

Audit and Reporting Requirements

Covered Online Services must obtain an annual independent audit regarding minors’ use of the service. The audit report must include the purpose of the Covered Online Service, the extent to which the Covered Online Service is likely to be accessed by minors, an accounting of the total number and types of reports generated pursuant to Section 39-80-60(A) (the SC AACDA) and an assessment of how those reports were handled, if known, whether, how, and for what purpose the Covered Online Service collects or processes minors’ personal data and sensitive personal data, the design safety for minors, privacy protections for minors, and parental tools that the Covered Online Service has adopted, whether and how the Covered Online Service uses covered design features, the Covered Online Service’s process for handling data access, deletion, and correction requests for a minor’s data, age verification or estimation methods used, and a description of algorithms used by the Covered Online Service. The audit must be submitted to the South Carolina Attorney General and made publicly available by July 1, 2026.

Pending Injunction

On February 9, 2026, NetChoice filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, challenging the SC AACDA on First and Fourteenth Amendment grounds (NetChoice v. Wilson, No. 3:26-cv-00543). Later, on March 9, 2026, NetChoice filed a motion for preliminary injunction to temporarily block enforcement of the law during the course of the litigation. The motion remains pending before the court.