MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Free Speech Coalition, along with a group of adult industry stakeholders, has filed a legal challenge to Tennessee’s age verification law and requested an expedited preliminary injunction against enforcement.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, argues that SB 1792 violates the First Amendment.
“Engaging in legal speech is not a criminal act,” FSC Executive Director Alison Boden said in a statement. “This law, and others like it, have effectively become state censorship, creating a massive chilling effect for those who deal in sex or sexuality, and creating significant privacy risk for Tennesseans who want to access sexual health information, adult content, or any other controversial speech.”
The bill was passed into law by the Tennessee legislature in April on a unanimous, bipartisan vote and is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. As XBIZ has reported, the Tennessee law is considered particularly dangerous because — unlike some other states’ AV bills that attempt to circumvent free-speech issues by making adult sites liable to civil suits — it empowers the state attorney general to bring felony criminal charges against websites with “material harmful to minors” if they do not require visitors to upload a government ID, scan their face, or otherwise verify their age and identity.
Free Speech Coalition has challenged similar laws in Indiana, Montana, Texas, Louisiana, and Utah, securing preliminary injunctions in Indiana and Texas. The Texas case, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, will be heard by the United States Supreme Court in January.
Joining FSC as co-plaintiffs in the Tennessee case are content creator and educator MelRose Michaels, sex education platform O.school, sexual wellness retailer Adam & Eve, and adult fan platform JustFor.Fans.