Tennessee's Age Verification Law Goes Into Effect - Immediate Impact Protects Children!
Jan 17, 2025 by FACT
In the 2024 Legislative Session, Tennessee lawmakers passed the Protect Tennessee Minors Act, which requires websites to proactively verify that users are 18+ if at least one-third of that website’s content is considered harmful to minors under state standards. The bill was set to take effect on January 1, 2025, but a district court judge temporarily blocked the law, largely due to alleged free speech violations. This week, as a similar law from Texas goes before the U.S. Supreme Court, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 3-0 that Tennessee’s law can take effect while SCOTUS reviews the Texas case.
“We see no reason to keep Tennessee’s law on ice while Texas and Indiana may enforce theirs (against at least one of the same Plaintiffs), especially when the Supreme Court will soon offer guidance on the standard of review we should apply,” the 6th Circuit ruling states.
Following the Court’s decision, one of the largest online pornography websites, Pornhub, began blocking access in Tennessee, according to the Associated Press. Tennessee is now the 16th state in which Pornhub has ceased activity due to age verification laws.
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The Protect Tennessee Minors Act requires adult websites to verify visitors are at least 18 years old by reviewing an image of a user's government-issued ID or through “another reasonably effective method.” Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, has said the requirements are “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous,” despite proper safety precautions enshrined into the law. For instance, websites are prohibited from retaining personally identifying information and must maintain anonymized data. When Aylo complied with Louisiana’s age-verification law, traffic dropped 80%, signaling either that adults are unwilling to submit their IDs to explicit websites, or that much of their traffic was coming from minors – perhaps a mix of both.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded the ruling from the 6th Circuit, writing that the law “seeks to stem the flow of toxic content to kids and keep adult websites adults-only.” The law is enforceable effective immediately, pending a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Children can’t buy cigarettes or alcohol, much less visit a strip club, but in the online Wild West, anything goes for anyone of any age,” the 6th Circuit panel wrote in their decision. “Children’s easy access to hardcore internet pornography, made possible by modern computers and smartphones, is part of what one social psychologist has called ‘the Great Rewiring of Childhood.’”
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Supreme Court seemed likely to rule in favor of Texas’s age verification law after oral arguments were heard on Wednesday, noting that the Justices seemed “skeptical” of the challenge. A decision is expected from the Court by this summer.
SCOTUS’s ruling in the Texas case will ultimately decide the fate of the age verification laws on the books in 18 other states, including Tennessee. Please pray for the Lord’s favor in this critical case.
“We see no reason to keep Tennessee’s law on ice while Texas and Indiana may enforce theirs (against at least one of the same Plaintiffs), especially when the Supreme Court will soon offer guidance on the standard of review we should apply,” the 6th Circuit ruling states.
Following the Court’s decision, one of the largest online pornography websites, Pornhub, began blocking access in Tennessee, according to the Associated Press. Tennessee is now the 16th state in which Pornhub has ceased activity due to age verification laws.
The Protect Tennessee Minors Act requires adult websites to verify visitors are at least 18 years old by reviewing an image of a user's government-issued ID or through “another reasonably effective method.” Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, has said the requirements are “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous,” despite proper safety precautions enshrined into the law. For instance, websites are prohibited from retaining personally identifying information and must maintain anonymized data. When Aylo complied with Louisiana’s age-verification law, traffic dropped 80%, signaling either that adults are unwilling to submit their IDs to explicit websites, or that much of their traffic was coming from minors – perhaps a mix of both.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti applauded the ruling from the 6th Circuit, writing that the law “seeks to stem the flow of toxic content to kids and keep adult websites adults-only.” The law is enforceable effective immediately, pending a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Children can’t buy cigarettes or alcohol, much less visit a strip club, but in the online Wild West, anything goes for anyone of any age,” the 6th Circuit panel wrote in their decision. “Children’s easy access to hardcore internet pornography, made possible by modern computers and smartphones, is part of what one social psychologist has called ‘the Great Rewiring of Childhood.’”
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. Supreme Court seemed likely to rule in favor of Texas’s age verification law after oral arguments were heard on Wednesday, noting that the Justices seemed “skeptical” of the challenge. A decision is expected from the Court by this summer.
SCOTUS’s ruling in the Texas case will ultimately decide the fate of the age verification laws on the books in 18 other states, including Tennessee. Please pray for the Lord’s favor in this critical case.
