Tennessee SB 1792 (Adult Content)
What it does
Tennessee's Protect Tennessee Minors Act makes any commercial site where at least a third of the content is harmful to minors verify every visitor is 18 before granting access. What sets it apart is the penalty: a violation is a Class C felony, each one, on top of a private right of action for parents and for people whose data was kept.
Why it matters
Most states reach for fines or lawsuits; Tennessee reached for prison. Turning a missed age check into a felony is the hardest enforcement stance in the patchwork, and it raises the stakes for any operator deciding whether to serve the state at all.
Our take
Tennessee is the state that criminalized it, treating a failed age check like a felony offense. A federal judge blocked the law at the end of 2024, but the Sixth Circuit let it take force, and it is one of the toughest adult-content statutes in the country.
Votes
- Senate — Passed (31 to 0) · April 9, 2024
- House — Passed (96 to 0) · April 24, 2024
Timeline
- May 22, 2024Signed into law
- December 30, 2024Federal judge blocked it
- January 1, 2025Took effect after appeals court cleared enforcement
Legal challenges
Preliminary injunction granted Dec 30, 2024; enforcement cleared on appeal, and the law is in force and enforceable as of July 2026
Our coverage: all age-verification stories · Status checked July 19, 2026