South Carolina 126th General Assembly Status: Enacted 1 R cosponsors

H 4591 — 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. - RATIFIED TITLE

Last action — Act No. 237

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 16, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Henry McMaster (Republican) on May 19, 2026.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 62% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 23 sponsors

    1 primary, 22 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 R).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

In plain language

The bill requires social media platforms to verify account holder ages and set default account settings.

This legislation mandates that certain social media platforms must reasonably estimate and verify the ages of their users. It also requires them to create default settings for younger users and establish parental consent procedures.

What this means for you
  • Families: Parents will have more tools to ensure their children engage safely with social media.

Summary

Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Act No. 237

  2. Effective date 01/01/27

  3. Signed By Governor

  4. Ratified R 251

  5. Roll call Yeas-115 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 59)

  6. Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled (House Journal-page 58)

  7. Roll call Ayes-42 Nays-1 (Senate Journal-page 104)

  8. Read third time and returned to House with amendments (Senate Journal-page 104)

  9. Amended (Senate Journal-page 104)

  10. Scrivener's error corrected

  11. Read second time (Senate Journal-page 67)

  12. Amended (Senate Journal-page 67)

  13. Recalled from Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry (Senate Journal-page 3)

  14. Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry (Senate Journal-page 18)

  15. Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 18)

  16. Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal-page 17)

  17. Roll call Yeas-114 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 274)

  18. Read second time (House Journal-page 269)

  19. Amended (House Journal-page 269)

  20. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: W.Newton, Hewitt, Calhoon, Gibson

  21. Scrivener's error corrected

  22. Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary (House Journal-page 5)

  23. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Lastinger

  24. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Govan, Wickensimer

  25. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Terribile, Huff

  26. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: T.Moore, Chapman, Lawson, Brewer, Ford, Pedalino, Ligon, Robbins

  27. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Schuessler, Sessions

  28. Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 31)

  29. Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 31)

  30. Referred to Committee on Judiciary

  31. Prefiled

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 22 co-sponsors · 147 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (22)

Not signed on (147)

147 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 147 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights technology
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does H 4591 do?
Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media
Who sponsors H 4591?
H 4591 is sponsored by Representative Daniel Gibson, Representative Paula Rawl Calhoon, Representative Lee Hewitt, Representative Wm. Weston J. Newton, Representative John T. Lastinger, Jr., Representative Paul B. Wickensimer, Representative Jerry N. Govan, Jr., Representative William C. "Chris" Huff, Representative Jackie R. Terribile, Representative Robby Robbins, Representative Thomas R. "Randy" Ligon, Representative Fawn M. Pedalino, Representative Greg Ford, Representative Gary S. Brewer, Jr., Representative M. Brian Lawson, Representative Donald G. "Don" Chapman, Representative Travis A. Moore, Representative Heath Sessions, Carla M. Schuessler (Republican), Representative David Martin, Representative Melissa Lackey Oremus, Representative Thomas E. "Tommy" Pope, and Representative Brandon Guffey.
What is the current status of H 4591?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 16, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track H 4591?
Track H 4591 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on H 4591

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of H 4591

Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →