Tenn. State Senate Passes “Girls Gone Wild Bill”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee State Senate this week voted unanimously to pass the so-called “Girls Gone Wild bill” — despite the fact that Tennessee Attorney General Robert E. Cooper had issued an opinion stating that portions of the legislation are “constitutionally suspect.”

According to the text of the bill as published on the website for the Tennessee state legislature, the bill “creates a new offense of advertising or promoting the sale, production, distribution, exhibition or display” of obscene materials in the state.

If passed in the state House of Representatives, the Senate Bill 14 (SB14) would also make it unlawful “for the owner or an employee of a television station or cable television company that broadcasts in this state to knowingly accept or solicit for advertising material that is obscene, harmful to minors, or in violation of the above-described federal law, or for such a company or station to actually and knowingly promote or advertise such content.”

In an opinion letter dated May 14, Cooper stated that while some sections of the bill closely track federal law regarding obscene materials and those aspects of the legislation are likely to withstand legal challenge, other sections of the proposed law are more dubious constitutionally.

“Given the extensive federal regulation of the content of programming on television, it is possible that a court could determine that [the bill] is preempted to the extent it applies to public or private television broadcasts,” Cooper wrote in his opinion.

“Moreover, Section 4 of the proposed amendment to [Tennessee state code] is constitutionally suspect under the 1st Amendment because it lacks a ‘safe-harbor’ provision to allow the broadcasting of indecent material during hours when minors are unlikely to be viewing television, does not directly advance the governmental interest in restricting a minor’s access to material harmful to minors, and is more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest.”

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic State Sen. Doug Jackson, told the Associated Press that he was encouraged by Cooper’s evaluation of the bill, and said that the legislation is designed to apply only to material that a jury determines to be obscene.

“If a jury says the product is obscene, what we’re saying is the cable companies can be held responsible,” Jackson said. “Why should they be allowed to make money off a product that they know or should have known is obscene?”

The portion of the bill that Cooper termed “constitutionally suspect,” states in part that it is an offense for “the owner or employee of a public or private television station or the owner or employee of a cable television company… that broadcasts for public viewing or paid subscription viewing in this state to solicit, accept or cause to be solicited or accepted, advertising for any material that is harmful to minors."

According to Jeffrey Douglas, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, the fact that the bill provides no “safe harbor” provision that allows for the broadcast of material that is deemed inappropriate for minors but fine for adults will likely prove the bill’s undoing in court, should it be signed into law.

“Beyond being bad policy, the bill is indefensible, legally,” Douglas told XBIZ. “These efforts by states to ban speech that they don’t like are facially unconstitutional.”

In addition to the lack of a safe harbor provision, Douglas said it is not clear whether states have the legal authority to regulate cable TV content, at all. Even the Federal Communications Commission does not have clear authority to regulate cable television the way it does broadcast TV, Douglas observed.

“The ability of a state to regulate cable content is highly questionable,” Douglas said. “One can imagine how insane it would be if every state could regulate cable content — every cable company would have to have different programming for every state.”

The bill has little chance of passing in the Tennessee House of Representatives during the current legislative session, according to AP reports, as a companion bill was tabled by a House subcommittee in April, after it received no support from members of either party.

Despite the reservations of legal experts, including his own state’s Attorney General, Jackson said he believes the bill will pass in the state House next year, during the second session of the 105th General Assembly.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Australian eSafety Commissioner Demands Stricter Child Protection Codes

Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety, is once again reviewing a “final” draft of industry codes to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate content, after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant rejected the previously announced “final” codes as insufficiently stringent.

Kyrgyzstan Parliament Moves to Outlaw Internet Pornography

A parliamentary committee of the Supreme Council of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday approved a measure to outlaw online adult content in the country.

Sweden Bans Purchase of 'Remote' Sexual Services

The Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, has approved a proposal to criminalize purchasing sexual services performed remotely by streamers and custom content creators.

AV Bulletin: Arizona's About-Face, What New Laws Mean for Adult

Industry stakeholders and free speech advocates have anxiously been awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, which could significantly impact state age verification laws around the United States. In the meantime, state legislatures continue to weigh and pass AV bills, the U.K. and the EU are moving ahead with their own AV mandates and strategies, and legal challenges continue to play out in U.S. courts — with some cases on hold pending the SCOTUS ruling in Paxton.

FSC Addresses UK Age Verification Guidelines

The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published an article offering guidance on the U.K.'s Online Safety Act and the various guidelines put forward by the country's telecommunications regulator Ofcom.The article follows:

European Commission Posts AV Guidelines, Seeks Feedback

The European Commission has made public its draft guidelines on protecting minors online under the Digital Services Act, including age verification requirements covering adult sites and platforms.

Sex Workers' Group Fights Proposed Swedish Ban on 'Remote' Sexual Services

The European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA) has launched a campaign against a Swedish government proposal to expand current laws against purchasing sexual services to apply to acts performed remotely by streamers and custom content creators.

FSC: Arizona Governor Signs Controversial Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition has released a statement regarding Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signing the state's age verification bill into law.

NCOSE Sues 4 Adult Websites Under Kansas Age Verification Law

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), a conservative anti-pornography organization, has sued four adult websites in Kansas under the state's age verification law.

2025 XBIZ Miami Show Schedule Announced

XBIZ is pleased to announce the release of the full show schedule for XBIZ Miami, the adult industry's biggest summer conference, set to take place May 19-22 at the Nautilus Sonesta Miami Beach hotel.

Show More