In an escalation against Silicon Valley, Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a formal demand letter to Google YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram on June 27, 2025, probing alleged censorship of gun-related content on the world’s largest social media platforms.
Bailey’s move, marked by a Civil Investigative Demand (CID)—a powerful statutory tool under Missouri law—signals the latest step in a growing clash between Republican state attorneys general and Big Tech schemes to undermine free speech online.
The Missouri AG’s office frames the issue as nothing less than constitutional liberty. “When Big Tech companies hold the power to control what Americans see, say, and believe, they hold the power to reshape the nation,” the press release states. “We will not allow Silicon Valley to rewrite the Bill of Rights from behind a firewall.” The CID, permitted by Section 407.040 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, compels these tech giants to hand over a trove of documents, policies, internal communications, and records of any acts such as “demonetizing”, “downranking”, or “delisting” firearms-related content that abides by the law.
Bailey asserts the demand was prompted by “troubling allegations that Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are obscuring or penalizing content related to firearms, accessories, hunting, personal protection, and related political viewpoints.”
The press release underscores what’s at stake: “The right to ‘keep and bear arms’ is one of the most sacred and cherished rights guaranteed to the citizens of the State of Missouri under the Constitution of the United States.” According to the CID, “If citizens are prevented from owning modern firearms, the government holds a monopoly on the use of force, and as history has demonstrated time and again, this consolidation of power inevitably leads to the violation of human rights and the trampling of individual liberty.”
The Missouri Attorney General’s office invokes both consumer protection law and constitutional freedoms. The investigation seeks to determine if Google and Meta engaged in “deception, fraud, false promises, misrepresentation, or other unfair practices…to suppress speech related to the legal acquisition, ownership, and use of firearms.” Bailey reiterated: “The right to keep and bear arms is the cornerstone of every other constitutional freedom. If tech giants are colluding to silence lawful expression about firearms or shut down commerce protected under the Second Amendment, Missourians deserve to know.”
If the investigation reveals that these companies misled consumers about the availability or visibility of lawful content, it could constitute a violation of the “Missouri Merchandising Practices Act”—one of the nation’s broadest and most flexible state consumer protection statutes.
This announcement is just the latest in a series of high-profile actions by AG Bailey targeting what he calls “corporate censorship.”
Missouri has previously filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration—Missouri v. Biden—alleging the existence of a coordinated “censorship enterprise” in which government officials pressured social media companies to suppress constitutionally protected speech, including content related to the Second Amendment. Then, in May 2025, Bailey implemented a groundbreaking state rule requiring social media platforms to allow users to choose their own content moderators, directly challenging the control exercised by platform-driven algorithms.
Under the Missouri CID, Google and Meta must respond with requested records by October 26, 2025. The outcome will help determine whether states can leverage consumer protection laws to compel platform transparency and possibly change how social media handles lawful firearms content nationally.
Bailey’s announcement put it starkly: “We will not allow Silicon Valley to rewrite the Bill of Rights from behind a firewall. The right to keep and bear arms is the cornerstone of every other constitutional freedom.” As the October deadline looms, the clash between Jefferson City and Silicon Valley could redefine the limits of corporate control over constitutionally protected speech.
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About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
