South Carolina Takes a Hard Line on Age-Appropriate Design – Audits, Parental Controls, Employee Personal Liability, and More
The recently enacted South Carolina Age Appropriate Design Code Act (S.C. Code Sec. 39-80-10 et seq.) (the “Act”) has the potential to become one of the country’s most consequential privacy laws. It combines prescriptive privacy-by-design controls with restrictions on facilitating targeted advertising to minors under 18, and requires annual independent compliance audits and reports that are publicly posted, coupled with unusually aggressive penalties, including potential personal liability for officers and employees for “willful and wanton” violations. Unlike some other states’ privacy laws that have given entities time to make technical and policy changes before their effective date, South Carolina took a different route. The Act took effect immediately upon enactment in February 2026, and the first audit reports were required to be submitted to the South Carolina Attorney General by July 1, 2026. (more…)
Fifth Circuit Holds U.S. FTC’s In-House Adjudication of Deceptive Advertising Claim Unconstitutional Under Jarkesy
On March 20, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Intuit’s petition for review and vacated a cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) related to Intuit’s marketing of TurboTax because “[f]ollowing the Supreme Court’s decision in SEC v. Jarkesy … the adjudication of a deceptive advertising claim before an administrative law judge [ALJ] violated the constitutional separation of powers.”1
U.S. FTC’s New Rule on Fake and AI-Generated Reviews and Social Media Bots
On August 14, 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a final rule that prohibits fake and artificial intelligence-generated consumer reviews, consumer testimonials, and celebrity testimonials, along with other types of unfair or deceptive practices involving reviews and testimonials. This new rule is the latest development in the FTC’s increased rulemaking efforts and increased focus on AI, and will take effect on October 21, 2024.
