The War on Porn Regular Updates about the Assault on The Adult Industry
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lawmakers in Tennessee are weighing a proposal that would require adult-oriented businesses to display warning notices linking pornography and adult products to a range of harms, including claims that critics say are not supported by established evidence.
Senate Bill 2481, sponsored by Republican Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma, cleared the state Senate on Wednesday.
As written, the bill would require adult businesses to post printed warnings at their entrances. The notices must be “no smaller than 8 1/2” x 11”, in 48-point type, in boldface, block letters, centered on the sign,” with black lettering on a white background. Displaying the signs would be a condition for obtaining a license from county-level adult-oriented business regulatory boards, where such boards exist.
State law defines adult-oriented businesses to include “adult bookstores, adult mini-motion and motion picture theaters, adult cabarets, escort agencies, sexual-encounter centers, massage parlors, rap parlors, saunas, and similar businesses.”
The bill outlines specific language for the warnings.
Attention: By engaging in this type of entertainment, you may be contributing to an increase in domestic assault, rape or sexual assault, and human trafficking.
An alternative version reads:
Attention: By purchasing, borrowing, or using this pornographic material, you may be contributing to an increase in domestic assault, rape, or sexual assault, and human trafficking.
Republican Rep. Monty Fritts of Kingston is sponsoring the measure in the House. The legislation is expected to receive support from the state’s Republican majority.
SB 2481 is paired with House Bill 2314. Legislative records show the Senate version has been revised to align with the House language as lawmakers move toward potential approval by Gov. Bill Lee.
If enacted, the measure would add another regulatory requirement for adult-oriented businesses in Tennessee, alongside the state’s existing age verification law, which includes felony penalties for violations and remains the subject of ongoing legal challenges.
The proposal reflects an approach used by lawmakers in other states, drawing comparisons to warning labels required for tobacco and alcohol products and to online notice requirements adopted in Texas and Alabama.
In Texas, legislation required pornography websites to display warnings stating that the state’s Health and Human Services Department had identified viewing pornography as addictive, similar to drugs and alcohol. That requirement was part of House Bill 1181, which also included an age verification mandate that later reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a legal challenge brought by the Free Speech Coalition and operators of major adult platforms, a federal district court found the compelled warning language in HB 1181 unconstitutional under the First Amendment, citing the Zauderer test, which allows required disclosures only if they are purely factual and not controversial.
The court determined that the statements in the Texas law were not scientifically established, noting that “pornography addiction” is not a medically recognized diagnosis.
First Amendment attorney Corey Silverstein said similar legal questions could arise in Tennessee.
“This amendment raises serious First Amendment concerns by forcing lawful businesses to disseminate government-compelled messaging that is, at best, highly contested and, at worst, misleading,” Silverstein said. “The government cannot condition a license on requiring speakers to adopt and promote a viewpoint that stigmatizes their own protected activity.
“Adult entertainment is legal expression,” he contined. “Mandating that these businesses post warnings implying a causal connection to crimes like trafficking or sexual assault is not grounded in reliable evidence and risks crossing the line from regulation into unconstitutional compelled speech. If the state’s objective is to address exploitation or violence, it should do so through evidence-based policy—not by singling out a lawful industry and forcing it to carry a message designed to undermine it.”
Research cited by advocacy groups has also addressed the relationship between legal adult content and exploitation. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation states, “Many people of all genders choose to work in the adult industry in a variety of ways that are legal, consenting, and informed, including the making of adult visual content.
“While workers in the adult industry are at risk of harm and exploitation just like any other industry, pornography is a legal and frequently accessed mechanism for women and gender expansive people to participate in the economy and earn a living,” Woodhull adds.
Some studies have also examined broader social trends, with findings indicating that increased availability of online pornography has been associated with declines in reported sexual assault rates.
