Up until now, there have been three main ways that states have tried — in some instances successfully — to keep the truth about what happens on factory farms hidden. In some, like Idaho, Kansas, Montana and North Dakota, it’s illegal to take photos or video inside agricultural facilities. In others, like Iowa and Utah, it’s illegal to lie on a job application: an undercover activist, for example, wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that they’re affiliated with an animal welfare group. And in Missouri, whistleblowers with evidence of abuse or illegal practices have to immediately turn that information over to authorities, effectively preventing activists from being able to build a case against a facility.

It’s not just animals that are at risk under the state’s new law