FSC Reaches Out to Tennessee Lawmakers Ahead of Age Verification Bill Hearing

The Free Speech Coalition submitted a letter to the members of the Tennessee House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee today ahead of a scheduled hearing on Wednesday, March 27. FSC shared its concerns regarding HB 1614, a bill that requires websites containing a “substantial portion” of content deemed “harmful to minors” to implement dangerous age verification that may conflict with the state’s own privacy legislation (which doesn’t take effect until 2025).

The law creates a Class C felony offense for violations and the state expects the number of convictions to be “significant” according to a memorandum. The memo also acknowledges that the legislation will result in “a significant increase in business expenditures associated with ensuring compliance with age-verification requirements” for affected websites.

Tennesseans wishing to express their opposition to this an other age verification bills in the state can do so here.