Tennessee Bill Filed To Block “Harmful” Content On Minors’ Cell Phones
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
A newly introduced Tennessee bill aims to monitor and track what is accessed by children on their cell phones and block content that is deemed “harmful” for minors.
The bill, dubbed the “Youth Mental Health Safety Act,” would block pornography and also excessively violent, sadomasochistic content that would be deemed harmful, according to the bill sponsor Senator Hensley. Devices would be required to have the filter pre-installed and pre-activated.
Senate Bill 0138 (SB0138), sponsored by Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 28), would ban “harmful” material from ever appearing on the child’s phone. This would amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47, Chapter 18, relative to devices capable of accessing the internet. The bill was passed on first and second consideration and has been assigned to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
The companion House Bill 0761 (HB0761), sponsored by Representative Rick Eldridge (R-Morristown-District 10), passed on first and second consideration and has been assigned to the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee.
Neither appear on the committee calendars upon publication of this article.
Senator Hensley says minors are rampantly seeing minors engaging with harmful and inappropriate content.
Attorney Jonathan Turner says there is more to the bill than common knowledge. He says, “It really only appears to be going after obscene material. And obscene material is not constitutionally protected. It’s not free speech. Obscene can be restricted speech.”
One issue that Turner does not think the filter could restrict, however, is sexting situations between children, including the transmission of photos and videos which could be classified as child pornography.
The filter would only be able to restrict known websites, which could become a First Amendment violation if websites such as legal pornographic websites are blocked.
However, Hensley says that the filter would allow adults to input a password in order to remove it from the device.
Critics of the bill say that some teens have questions about issues like birth control or safe sex and may not be comfortable asking their parents about those things. They argue that those children should be able to gain access to information without having to worry about a filter blocking the content.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
