Senate debates AI, child-exploitation bill; amendment to remove mandatory minimum is tabled

The South Carolina Senate debated S.28, a bill that would add provisions to state law addressing visual depictions of minors created or altered with AI or other means and that sets felony ranges and related penalties, and it took multiple amendment votes before the measure was ordered for a second reading.

Supporters and opponents spent more than an hour discussing how the statute should treat different forms of possession, production and distribution of such images and whether judges should retain discretion to impose less than a statutory minimum in some cases. The chamber tabled one amendment that would have removed mandatory minimums for certain offenses and approved other amendments to clarify who may lawfully handle material and to require a state education-and-notification policy for students.

The measure as presented includes sentencing ranges discussed on the floor: simple possession subject to a penalty range of 0 to 10 years; production,…