Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HJR0065 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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4	4	HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 65
5	5	By Cepicky
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8	8	HJR0065
9	9	002151
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12	12	A RESOLUTION to urge the U.S. Congress to pass the Shielding
13	13	Children's Retinas from Egregious Exposure on
14	14	the Net (SCREEN) Act.
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16	16	WHEREAS, it is estimated that eighty percent of minors between the ages of twelve and
17	17	seventeen have been exposed to pornography, with fifty-four percent of teenagers seeking it
18	18	out; and
19	19	WHEREAS, the internet is the most common source for minors to access pornography,
20	20	with pornographic websites receiving more web traffic in the United States than X, Netflix,
21	21	Pinterest, and LinkedIn combined; and
22	22	WHEREAS, the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that filters do not work on one in
23	23	ten pornography sites accessed intentionally and one in three pornography sites that are
24	24	accessed unintentionally; and
25	25	WHEREAS, since 2022, nineteen states, including Tennessee, have passed laws
26	26	requiring entities disseminating material harmful to minors online to comply with age verification
27	27	standards, but with the exception of Texas, there has been little evidence of change in such
28	28	states, and nearly all such content remains accessible online to children in the U.S.; and
29	29	WHEREAS, the obscenity industry considers the line of legality to be drawn by
30	30	prosecutors, not by legislators, and pornographers have responded by self-regulating when
31	31	obscenity laws have been enforced; and
32	32	WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that, "transmitting obscenity and child
33	33	pornography, whether via the Internet or other means, is... illegal under federal law for both
34	34	adults and juveniles" in Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1998); and
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39	39	WHEREAS, although obscenity is not constitutionally protected speech, and violations of
40	40	federal obscenity laws are criminal offenses, the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to
41	41	prioritize enforcement of these laws, which neglect has contributed to the uninhibited access of
42	42	harmful material online by children: Miller v. California [1973]; 18 U.S.C. § 1460-1470; and
43	43	WHEREAS, members of the U.S. Congress have made recent attempts to curb
44	44	children's access to obscene and harmful material online, for example the Shielding Children's
45	45	Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, sponsored by Senator Mike Lee of
46	46	Utah and Representative Mary Miller of Illinois, which would create an age-verification standard
47	47	nationwide, but such legislation has yet to become law; now, therefore,
48	48	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
49	49	FOURTEENTH GEN ERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
50	50	CONCURRING, that we urge the United States Congress to pass the Shielding Children's
51	51	Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act or any similar legislation that holds
52	52	online pornographers accountable for obscene and harmful material they make available to
53	53	children.
54	54	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the State of Tennessee to aggressively
55	55	enforce the Protect Tennessee Minors Act to ensure children are protected from obscene and
56	56	harmful material online.
57	57	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the U.S. Department of Justice to prioritize
58	58	the enforcement of federal obscenity laws and especially violations committed via interactive
59	59	computer service.
60	60	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to
61	61	the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, the President and the
62	62	Secretary of the United States Senate, each member of the Tennessee Congressional
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66	66
67	67	delegation, the Attorney General of the United States of America, and the Attorney General of
68	68	the State of Tennessee.