Press Freedom in Missouri
Protected — by a law newer than this grade
against retaliatory lawsuits over what you say
IFS grade
Missouri has an anti-SLAPP law that this grade predates.
Missouri replaced its narrow public-hearing statute with the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act. It was enacted on July 14, 2026, after the 2025 Report Card was published, and the Institute for Free Speech has announced it but not yet regraded the state. The D- above describes the law as it stood before that — treat it as history, not as Missouri's current status. IFS announcement
On the 2025 Report Card, Missouri scored 26 of 100 with a grade of D-. That is what the law it has since replaced was worth; the 51-jurisdiction median was 85.
How much of what you say the statute reaches
What it actually does once it applies
The overall score is two parts coverage to one part protections, as IFS weights them.
What Missouri actually gives a defendant
The five protections IFS scores. A statute can cover every kind of speech and still leave a defendant paying their own lawyer for two years.
- Case pauses while the motion is heardPartial: 18 / 20
- Plaintiff must show the case has meritNothing: 0 / 12
- Denial can be appealed at oncePartial: 5 / 25
- Winning defendant recovers legal costsPartial: 36 / 40
- Courts told to read the law broadlyNothing: 0 / 3
Missouri scores nothing on 2 of the five. That is where a bill amending the statute would have the most to fix.
Incidents logged in Missouri
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has logged 37 press-freedom incidents in Missouri since 2014, of which 12 are since January 1, 2021.
- Assault17
Physical attacks on journalists covering a story
- Arrest/Criminal Charge16
Journalists arrested or charged while reporting
- Equipment Damage6
Cameras and gear broken during coverage
- Subpoena/Legal Order5
Legal demands for notes, sources or footage
- Equipment Search or Seizure3
Devices taken or searched by authorities
- Other Incident3
Logged, but outside the named categories
- Chilling Statement1
Officials threatening the press publicly
- Prior Restraint1
An order not to publish, before publication
This is a count, not a score. It tracks where the protests and the newsrooms are as much as where the law is hostile, so a big state will out-count a small one whatever its statute says. An incident can carry more than one category, so the categories sum to more than the total. Nothing here is added to the anti-SLAPP score.
Where this comes from
The grade and the five component scores are the Institute for Free Speech's 2025 Report Card entry for Missouri. Incident counts are the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, used under CC BY 4.0. Both retrieved September 19, 2026. The score is IFS's own judgement and is not part of the FreedomRankings score.
Anti-SLAPP law is one part of press freedom, not all of it — shield laws, public records law and how Missouri courts actually rule are not scored here. None of this is legal advice; talk to a lawyer about an actual dispute.