South Carolina
AI behavior law: bot and agent disclosure, crawler and training-data rules, automated-agent transactions, and algorithmic decision-making.
Summary
South Carolina has not enacted any AI-specific law as of June 2026. The state's existing South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act (S.C. Code § 39-5-10 et seq.) provides a general backstop against deceptive automated practices, but no statute specifically regulates bot disclosure, training-data scraping, or automated decision-making. The 2025-2026 General Assembly session has seen a significant burst of AI-related bills — covering chatbot consumer protections, algorithmic discrimination, health-insurance automated decisions, and AI use in mental-health therapy — but all remain in committee as of mid-2026. South Carolina courts have issued interim guidance on generative AI use in legal proceedings (Chief Justice Kittredge, March 2025), but that is judicial policy, not legislation.
Enacted law
Private sector obligations
| Instrument | Category | Effective | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act (general consumer-protection backstop) (S.C. Code Ann. §§ 39-5-10 to 39-5-160) | Bot / agent disclosure | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov) |
Drafted & in discussion
| Instrument | Status | Applies to | Category | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence and Therapy or Psychotherapy Disclosure Bill (S. 788) (S.C. S. 788, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session)) | In committee | Private sector | Bot / agent disclosure | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); Columbia Daily (coladaily.com); ABC News 4 (abcnews4.com) |
| Chatbot Protection Act (S. 896 / H. 5138) (S.C. S. 896, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session); companion H. 5138) | In committee | Private sector | Bot / agent disclosure, Agents acting on behalf of users | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); EPIC (epic.org); NetChoice (netchoice.org) |
| Consumer Protections in Interactions with Artificial Intelligence Systems Act (S. 963) (S.C. S. 963, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session)) | In committee | Both | Automated decision-making, Bot / agent disclosure | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); LegiScan (legiscan.com) |
| Deceptive and Fraudulent Deepfake Media in Elections (H. 3517) (S.C. H. 3517, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session)) | In committee | Both | Bot / agent disclosure | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); Ballotpedia (ballotpedia.org) |
| Health Insurance Coverage Decisions — Artificial Intelligence Oversight (S. 443) (S.C. S. 443, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session)) | In committee | Private sector | Automated decision-making | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); LegiScan (legiscan.com) |
| Protecting Children from Chatbots Act (S. 1037) (S.C. S. 1037, 126th Gen. Assembly (2025-2026 session)) | In committee | Private sector | Bot / agent disclosure, Agents acting on behalf of users | South Carolina Legislature Online (scstatehouse.gov); LegiScan (legiscan.com) |