Who Is Behind Missouri’s Anti-Data Center Fake Facebook Pages?

Missourians have every right to question data center projects. They have every right to question developers, local officials, utility companies, and tax incentives.

What they should not have to accept is anonymous propaganda disguised as grassroots activism.

Over the past several months, a growing number of Facebook pages have appeared online promoting anti-data center content. Many claim to represent ordinary Missourians, farmers, or local residents. Yet in many cases, the people supposedly featured in the content are never identified, the stories cannot be verified, and the pages themselves provide little information about who is actually behind them.

One example is a Facebook page calling itself Missouri Life.

With Americana-inspired posts about the best of rural Missouri, the page seems harmless, if not patriotic, and has been shared by political activists, rural teachers, and others who love everything about Rural Missouri. A closer look raises serious questions.

The page regularly publishes posts depicting unnamed farmers supposedly standing up against data center projects. Many of the images appear to be AI-generated. The farmers are never identified. The communities are often vague. In some cases, the posts discuss projects that do not appear to exist at all. The stories are fake, but shared by several of the 21,000 that have followed the page.

The result is content that feels less like social media and more like manufactured outrage.

Readers are asked to trust dramatic claims without being provided basic information such as names, locations, public records, zoning applications, or other evidence.

In many instances, a quick search proved that the vague information shared on the post was describing something that just did not happen. If a local farmer is leading a fight against a development project, who is that farmer? Where is the project located? What company is involved? What local government is considering approval? 

Those are basic questions. Yet many of the posts never answer them. Instead, there’s AI-generated graphics and maps of the state that are so disfigured that no one would ever be able to walk on a bootheel like that.

There is no doubt that data centers have become a strategic economic and national security issue. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and advanced manufacturing all rely on digital infrastructure. Even the opponents of data centers, including this Facebook page, use their computing power. The United States is competing globally to build that infrastructure while rivals such as China are investing heavily in similar technologies.

Congressman Eric Burlison recently warned Missourians to think critically about anti-data center content appearing online.

“China absolutely wants you to hate them,” Burlison posted. “They know the future runs on AI and data centers, and they want the edge.”

Vernon County activist Cyndia Haggard recently echoed that concern, noting that local leaders are organizing tours of data centers because “there is so much misinformation out there, and sadly, social media is the perfect vehicle for spreading propaganda.”

To be clear, there is currently no public evidence proving that Missouri Life or any specific anti-data center page is operated by a foreign government. However, the warning highlights an important reality: anonymous online campaigns deserve scrutiny, especially when they seek to influence public opinion on major economic and technology issues.

Missourians should always ask who is speaking, what evidence supports the claim, and what interests may be involved.

Anonymous Facebook pages pushing AI-generated stories and unnamed sources have something else entirely.

The next time one shows up in your feed, ask a simple question:

Who is really behind it?