Last week, the founder of a Christian gaming app called TruPlay appealed to Congress after TikTok and Google repeatedly rejected his advertisements. The platforms cited their policy on targeting people for “religious content” as being the issue. But even after the language was revised and the targeting broadened, the ads were still rejected. Eventually, TikTok banned all TruPlay advertising from the platform.

At one point, the company faced “rejections multiple times a week,” according to attorneys representing the founder. TruPlay CEO, Brent Dusing, called the impact “devastating.”

“When you lose those platforms,” he explained, “you lose a massive ability to reach your audience.”

Google and TikTok function as gatekeepers for the digital marketplace. Their ad systems determine which messages circulate widely and which never see the light of day. In this day of modern advertising, organizations increasingly rely on online visibility to get word out about their products. As Dusing found out, getting excluded from the marketplace by Google or TikTok carries immediate consequences.

For decades, Chick gospel tracts have been printed, handed out, mailed, and shared. Today, as we seek to reach audiences online, the same messages we’ve always shared encounter new barriers. Similar to TruPlay, ads are rejected. Campaigns are restricted. Content is flagged or removed entirely.

This is the environment facing Chick Publications and countless other Christian publishers and ministries. Advertising with the clear presentation of the gospel now hits filters controlled by companies that decide which ideas are acceptable for public view. When it comes to the gospel, they almost always reject it.

Even pro-life pregnancy centers report growing difficulty reaching women online. Some say Google has blocked them from purchasing ads. Others report that all traffic to their website disappeared overnight due to Google’s algorithm. Some centers say that they can’t even find their business when searching for it by name.

In Washington state, a proposed bill regulating AI chat systems would impose heavy compliance requirements on developers of specialized tools while exempting the largest technology platforms. One developer building a faith-based AI assistant warned that the bill would halt her work entirely.

“Under this bill, none of that work could continue,” she said. “But Google and Microsoft will be fine.”

The requirements include costly monitoring systems, permanent data storage, and unlimited legal liability—costs that could reach millions before a product ever launches.

“Who can afford this?” she asked. “Google. Microsoft. OpenAI.”

Smaller projects—faith-based tools, homeschool education assistants, and values-driven alternatives—would be eliminated before reaching the market.

The bill even includes an exemption for “general purpose AI models,” a category that covers the dominant platforms shaping online discourse like Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini.

So while free speech and innovation remain legal on the surface, access to utilize tools and use them is limited to companies large enough, aligned enough, or exempt enough to operate.

The space for Christian speech is narrowing. For now, the gospel can still be printed, shared, spoken, offered online, and handed out. However, systems are already in place that have the power to decide which voices are amplified, which are buried, and which are erased altogether.

Scripture warned that a time would come when the world would no longer tolerate the truth. So, let’s be faithful to speak, print, share, warn, and work while it is still day. Gospel cartoons like Chick tracts have the benefit of garnering immediate attention without being subject to "censors," gatekeepers, filters, or ad systems that require "political correctness." Right now, we have complete freedom to use them, but we may be running out of time. The night is coming—and when it does, many gospel doors will be closed for good.