Nothing to hide: How governments justify the adoption of ag-gag laws

Abstract

Mainstream practices for producing meat, eggs, and dairy raise numerous concerns regarding public health, animal welfare, and environmental integrity. However, governments worldwide have expanded anti-whistleblower legislation that constrains informed public debate. Since 2019, several Canadian provinces have adopted so-called “ag-gag” laws designed to prevent hidden-camera investigations on farms and meat processing facilities. How do governments across Canada justify ag-gag laws as serving the public interest? To what extent do agricultural industry interests shape government adoption of ag-gag laws? Using Freedom of Information requests and debate records from provincial legislatures, we find that biosecurity is the most prominent justification for ag-gag laws, and that governments exhibit a close, collaborative relationship with industry actors. This case demonstrates that when it comes to contested sites of capital accumulation, governments are drawing on new spatial-legal tools to protect the status quo interests of private industry by dissuading dissent, debate, and public scrutiny.