Employer Access to Employee Personal Social Media Accounts in South Carolina
Not sure how this applies to you? Ask about your own facts and see which parts of current South Carolina law apply, with citations to the statutes.
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At a glance
| Governing law and covered accounts | No dedicated ordinary-employer personal social-account access statute; separate computer-crime law (S.C. Code § 16-16-20(1)(a)) |
|---|---|
| Covered employers, employees, and applicants | No dedicated account-access statute covering ordinary employers, workers, or applicants |
| Credential and observed-access demands | No general employer social-account statute addresses password or observed-access demands |
| Contact and privacy-setting demands | No general employer social-account statute addresses contacts or privacy settings |
| Refusal, retaliation, and hiring | No dedicated social-account refusal or hiring protection |
| Investigation and specific-content route | N/A No dedicated employer account-access investigation route |
| Employer accounts, public content, and regulated work | N/A No dedicated account-access exceptions |
| Inadvertently received credentials and use | N/A No dedicated inadvertent-credential rule |
| Enforcement and remedies | No dedicated ordinary-employer social-account access remedy |
What South Carolina law addresses
South Carolina's statutes do not set a general, employer-specific rule for demanding a worker's or applicant's personal social media password, private account display, new contact, or privacy-setting change. They also do not provide a special refusal remedy or investigation process for that demand. Separate S.C. Code § 16-16-20(1)(a) addresses specified unauthorized computer access for fraud or another crime; its elements differ from an ordinary account request.
That narrow result does not establish that every request is lawful. Other law and the facts of a particular request may matter.
Common questions
Is there a special South Carolina process for an employer to request private social-account content during an investigation? The current statutes do not provide a dedicated ordinary-employer process.
Does declining a password request trigger a special South Carolina social-account remedy? The current statutes do not create a dedicated remedy for that refusal. Other legal protections may depend on different facts.
Statutes and sources
- South Carolina Code, Title 41 index — “South Carolina Code of Laws Title 41 - LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT”; https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/title41.php (accessed 2026-10-24).
- S.C. Code § 16-16-20(1)(a) — “(1) It is unlawful for a person to wilfully, knowingly, maliciously, and without authorization or for an unauthorized purpose to: (a) directly or indirectly access or cause to be accessed a computer, computer system, or computer network for the purpose of: (i) devising or executing a scheme or artifice to defraud; (ii) obtaining money, property, or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises; or (iii) committing any other crime.”; https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c016.php (accessed 2026-10-24).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
What does South Carolina law mean for your facts?
You just read the general rule. Ask your own question and see which parts of current South Carolina law apply to your situation, with citations you can check.
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