Flipmagazine What about SLAPPs in the world? (I)

What about SLAPPs in the world? (I)

Lug 18, 2025 Attualità, World Wide

London

We start this article, about SLAPPs, with Don Bates, USA university professor, writer, trainer, PR practitioner and journalist, living in New York City, he says: “In 1766, Sweden’s parliament approved the world’s first legislation supporting freedom of the press and public information. Twenty-five years later, the framers of the U.S. Constitution enshrined the same principle in the First Amendment: ‘Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or the press’. And yet, here we are still fighting to maintain that freedom as more recent forces of obscene power and money seek to control the world for the whim and wealth of the oligarchical few. In the U.S., often viewed as the epicenter of democratic freedom, despite its abominable history of chattel Black slavery and Native American genocide, Donald Trump wants to silence all journalists who disagree with his thinking and actions. No one in U.S. history has attacked the press as fiercely as he and his MAGA minions have and are doing. Journalists are fighting back, but they need far more help. The public must join with them. They must defend reporters when they are attacked. They must educate their children. They must write to legislators. They must write letters to the editors. They must speak up in public forums. Professionals in public relations, public affairs, advertising and marketing must organize activist groups, which make it easier for those interested to take positive action. We must defend the free press for the same reason it has always required defending, because without it, there is no serious human freedom. Without freedom, we become small and petty, disingenuous, and disconnected, imprisoned rather than liberated”.

We have to clarify that the word SLAPPs stands for ‘Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation’. In other words, they are legal actions, often without base, usually used to intimidate and stop critics, particularly those who speak out on public interest issues.

Really, the goal isn’t to win the case, but to drain the critic’s resources and discourage them from further participation.

The primary result is to discourage critics from speaking out by creating a chilling effect.

SLAPPs are a threat to freedom of expression, particularly against journalists and democracy.

We want to focus again that examples of SLAPPs include lawsuits against journalists who are investigating corruption or human rights defenders who are speaking out against human rights abuses.

Current legal mechanisms to challenge SLAPPs are not fit for purpose and a new process is needed, new research says.

SLAPPs are also lawsuits that are used, by wealthy and powerful people, to prevent the publication of information that could be in the public interest, normally targeted at journalists.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Leeds, have conducted the first study to examine the efficacy of policy and legislative responses to SLAPPs.

The research, which has been published in the Journal of Media Law, argues that the early disposal mechanism prescribed in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 is a ‘false dawn’ for tackling SLAPPs, and sets out an alternative model.

Peter Coe, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Birmingham who led the study, said: “SLAPPs are abusive legal actions or threats brought by powerful parties to suppress criticism. They allow people to weaponise the law to exploit power and wealth inequalities between parties, ultimately inhibiting scrutiny and debate on matters of public interest. This can have damaging impacts on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the state of our democracy. It is imperative for the public good, that there are robust ways to challenge and dismiss SLAPPs, but current efforts aren’t fit for the job.”

En autre coté, en France, les SLAPPs sont des poursuites judiciaires utilisées pour faire taire ou intimider des individus (les journalistes, par example) ou des groupes qui participent à des débats publics, souvent sur des questions d’intérêt général. Ces poursuites sont qualifiées comme des ‘betizes’ car elles visent à étouffer la liberté d’expression en intimidant les défenseurs de l’intérêt public.

Face à cette menace, des mesures législatives et des mécanismes de défense sont mis en place pour contrer les SLAPPs. Ces mesures sont souvent regroupées sous le terme d’anti-SLAPPs.

Les motions anti-SLAPPs permettent aux personnes poursuivies de demander le rejet de l’affaire si elle est jugée abusive et visant à entraver la participation publique. (the article continues…)

Mauro Pecchenino

Editor & Journalist

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