HB 1792: Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Act
Sponsor: Jim Murphy
STRONGLY OPPOSE
Expands DESE bureaucracy & risks ideological gatekeeping.
HB 1792 creates a state-run “Media Literacy and Critical Thinking” pilot program in 5–7 “diverse” school districts during the 2027–28 and 2028–29 school years, run by DESE and aimed at students from preschool through 12th grade. It requires pilot districts to integrate “media literacy” into daily classroom work, covering news, social media, “bias and stereotypes,” “algorithms,” “misinformation,” and digital “ethics” and “footprints.” DESE must then use the results to draft statewide media-literacy and critical-thinking standards and recommendations for a future statewide program.
What Does This Bill Do?
- Creates DESE Pilot Program: Establishes a media literacy pilot in 5–7 districts run by DESE during the 2027–29 school years.
- Drafts State Standards: DESE must use pilot results to draft statewide media-literacy and critical-thinking standards for Preschool-12.
- Regulates Online Speech: Empowers DESE to define "misinformation," "algorithms," and "rhetoric that incites violence" for student instruction.
Constitutional or Critical Context
The bill gives DESE broad discretion to define what counts as “misinformation” and “rhetoric that incites violence.” In current practice, these labels are often used to suppress unpopular but lawful political, religious, or scientific views. When DESE teaches students which viewpoints and sources are “misinformation” and which are “truth,” this can become viewpoint discrimination and a de facto state orthodoxy. This formalizes state-approved speech norms rather than fostering genuine truth-seeking.
Red Flags & Recommended Amendments
DESE Control over Speech Norms
Empowers DESE to define “online misinformation,” “rhetoric that incites violence,” “cyber ethics,” and acceptable social-media behavior for students statewide—an enormous power over civic and religious discourse.
Pipeline to Statewide Mandates
Uses a limited “pilot” to justify permanent statewide standards, guidelines, and legislative recommendations written by DESE and outside “experts,” not by elected legislators accountable to parents.
Act for Missouri Recommendation:
HB 1792 may appear to be a neutral “critical thinking” and “media literacy” pilot, but in practice it expands DESE’s power to define what counts as truth, misinformation, and acceptable speech for Missouri’s children, with no real safeguards for parents, free speech, or biblical values. It grows government bureaucracy, invites ideological gatekeeping, and sets up a pipeline to statewide standards and future mandates. From a Christian, constitutional, pro-family perspective, empowering DESE to decide how our children are taught to review media and online speech is a risk Missouri families cannot afford —this bill should be opposed.