Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed a “first-in-the-nation rule” to end Big Tech’s censorship monopoly.
Bailey announced Tuesday that he filed a rule under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act to secure “freedom of expression for social media users.” The rule requires that social media users in the state be allowed to choose “their own content moderators” instead of being at the mercy of algorithms rigged against certain viewpoints and content.
“Andrew Bailey has been a fierce champion for free speech rights and all civil rights for Americans,” said MRC VP for Free Speech Dan Schneider. “He has created a solution for Missourians to be protected from Big Tech abuse. It’s because of this type of work that he earned one of our very first MRC Free Speech Awards.”
The newly codified rule, 15 CSR 60-19, says that not allowing users an independent content moderator (i.e., censor) is an “unfair, deceptive or otherwise unlawful practice.” Platforms operating in Missouri are now required to give users a “choice screen” that allows users to pick between different moderators when they activate their accounts and then offer the choice again at “regular intervals” afterwards, Bailey’s press release explained. The tech platforms also are not permitted to favor their own moderation tools, and have to provide “full interoperability for outside moderators” that are selected by users.
Any of what the press release calls “unreasonable access restrictions on third-party content moderators” are forbidden, and some exceptions were included specifically to undermine child exploitation and threats that are not legal.
“Big Tech oligarchs have manipulated the content Missourians see online and silenced voices they don’t like. That ends now,” said Bailey. “With this rule, Missouri becomes the first state in America to take real, enforceable action against corporate censorship. I’m using every tool to ensure Missourians—not Silicon Valley—control what they see on social media.”
Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
