Media organizations nationwide are participating in a Day of Action today, urging the UK Government to incorporate anti-SLAPP safeguards into the upcoming King’s Speech.

Those who pursue journalism do not enter the profession to ready themselves for courtroom battles. They enter newsrooms, file Freedom of Information requests, pose inquiries, cover municipal meetings and legal proceedings, and engage with as many sources as possible because they possess a narrative to share. They also understand that local communities thrive when public access to information expands, rather than contracts.

Local democracy depends on journalism to keep authority accountable and amplify community voices, guaranteeing that no individual escapes examination. Yet unchecked affluence and influence have found a formidable instrument in their effort to suppress inquiry and evade unwanted attention: the British legal system.

Frivolous legal actions, alternatively termed SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), enable wealthy individuals to threaten expensive and lengthy court proceedings to stop journalism from reaching publication or to remove already-published material from public view.

These abusive legal claims do not represent sincere efforts to correct errors in journalistic work. In truth, numerous journalists face lawsuits simply for pose inquiries or seeking responses from parties who have not even reviewed the article before deciding to take legal action. SLAPPs constitute attempts to suppress investigative reporting and shield those warranting examination from any degree of public responsibility.

All categories of journalism remain susceptible to such intimidation from legal aggressors. Catherine Belton faced threats from multiple Russian oligarchs and a state-owned Russian oil company while investigating Vladimir Putin’s ascent; Paul Radu, co-founder of OCCRP, was pursued in London by an Azerbaijani parliamentarian despite neither party residing in the UK; the UK Treasury readily permitted the sanctioned Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin to bring action against Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins; and legal proceedings, including incarceration threats, were directed at The Londoner by the subject of its journalism.

Yet these methods do not exclusively target national or international publications; regional reporters and smaller media organizations equally face such intimidation.

Journalists represent merely one category of those subjected to pressure aimed at suppressing stories. SLAPPs have been deployed against sexual assault survivors who identified their attackers to alert other women; deployed against local advocates striving to enhance public services for their communities; deployed against former patients sharing experiences to guide others considering medical procedures; deployed against environmental campaigners battling to shield endangered species and ecosystems from corporate exploitation; deployed against tenants who dare to request timely repairs and that grievances receive proper attention. Essentially, nearly every sector of society has experienced this weaponization of law, prompting the question: who has been intimidated into silence, too frightened to communicate with journalists?

SLAPPs eliminate information from public circulation. Every account, social media entry, blog, report or published work withdrawn by a target unable to afford legal representation, unable to abandon employment to prepare for litigation, and unable to navigate the complexity and uncertainty of the British justice system represents a loss for everyone.

However, the government will next month have an opportunity to restore equilibrium, ensuring that those targeted by legal bullies receive the same access to justice as those with sufficient resources to bear legal expenses. Should the King’s Speech present legislation establishing comprehensive, transparent, and meaningful anti-SLAPP protections, parliamentary time will be allocated for lawmakers to advance a significant step toward everyone’s right to speak freely.

This opinion piece has been contributed by the co-chairs of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition:

Nik Williams, Index on Censorship

Susan Coughtrie, Foreign Policy Centre

Charlie Holt, Climate Legal Defense

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition functions as an informal working group created in January 2021, comprising various freedom of expression, whistleblowing, anti-corruption, and transparency organizations, alongside media legal professionals, researchers, and academics.