State Bill of the Month – April 2025: Missouri H.B. 116

H.B. 116 – Establishes the “Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Act”. 

Primary Sponsor: Missouri State Representative Jim Murphy (R-94)

Introduced by Missouri State Rep. Jim Murphy (R-94), this bill would require the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish a “Media Literacy and Critical Thinking” Pilot Program for the 2026-28 school years. 

This bill will require five to seven K-12 schools to develop a curriculum that addresses digital media literacy and online safety. The program will teach best practices to deal with differing online opinions and how to respond to cybercrimes. Furthermore, the bill would emphasize guidelines on behavior that ensures responsible online habits.  

H.B. 116 has widespread support from education stakeholders in Missouri, including: Missouri Association of School Librarians, Missouri Press Association, Missouri State Teachers Association, Missouri National Education Association and Missouri Press Association. 

This bill was placed on the formal perfection calendar on Monday, April 28. The bill awaits further consideration from the Missouri General Assembly. 

Background:

The introduction of children’s online safety bills, including unwise age verification mandates, have become widely popular over recent years. Unfortunately, most of the bills that have been introduced have come with numerous constitutional and pragmatic issues. This is primarily due to state legislators wanting to implement age verification for online social media platforms, handheld devices, or online application stores. In 2025 alone, almost all 50 states have introduced some form of age verification legislation. Twenty states have introduced age verification legislation at the online application store level. Only one out of 20 states have actually passed such a bill (Utah). 

Legislators across the country are rejecting these proposals because they are invasive and infringe on the speech rights of their constituents. Age verification legislation would require users of all ages to verify their age by uploading sensitive and identifiable information to platforms that would require age verification. This would lead to caches of user information that would be an easy target for bad actors online. 

This is why legislation like H.B. 116 is so vital. It teaches online best practices in a safe and secure way, while respecting the speech and association rights of Missouri individuals and businesses. Adjusting to an increasingly digital world requires this kind of nuanced approach, rather than blunt mandates – whose consequences may be far-reaching and destructive for innovation.

It is for these reasons, among others, that TPA is pleased to make H.B. 116, as introduced by State Rep. Jim Murphy (R-94), its Bill of the Month for April 2025.