Iowa’s ‘Ag Gag’ Law Gets Federal Support

Modern issues call for modern solutions.

It often seems like people are really done with influencers and that includes the state of Iowa.

Back in 2021, the state passed what's now known as the 'Ag Gag' law. It can penalize people who record on private property after being told to leave.

My first thought were the annoying ~aesthetic~ influencers but that's not what started it. Initially, the law was put in place to prevent animal welfare groups from secretly filming on farms.

In 2022, a federal judge struck down the law and in January of this year, animal welfare groups argued that the law violates their First Amendment rights.

Part of the argument has revolved around public spaces vs. private spaces. Attorney David Muraskin, who represented Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and other animal rights advocates who don't support this law said:

In this narrow First Amendment challenge, ICCI seeks to protect its right to record when its presence is objected to, but it is recording on property that is otherwise open to the general public and there is no prohibition on recording...I can record in grocery stores … absent a sign that says I cannot record. What has been limited is my continued protest.

Meanwhile on the flipside is the argument that there's a difference between public and private property. Assistant Attorney General Breanne Stoltze said:

As far as this notion that there are certain places that are open to the public, I would certainly push back on the notion that ‘open to the public’ means the same thing as ‘public property.’ Certainly, to the extent that something is open to the public, like, say, a small business owner’s business, that’s subject to the business owner’s invitation...And longstanding Iowa trespass law gives the property owner the right to withdraw that invitation for any reason absent something that runs afoul of, say, Civil Rights public accommodation law or some other prohibition on withdrawing access.

Even though a federal appeals court has now backed the 'Ag Gag' law, it doesn't totally reinstate the law but it does give farmers and property owners more power to stop people from undercover filming.