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Editor’s note: We are republishing an article by Damilola Banjo that looks into ways how journalists can determine SLAPP suits — and resources for helping to fight back. This piece was originally published article first appeared on Global Investigative Journalism Network and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Threats to press freedom and democracy do not just come from tyrants and totalitarian states — they also come from elected demagogues, noted Kunda Dixit, a publisher based in Nepal, as he moderated a panel session on Fighting Back Against SLAPPs and Other Legal Threats at the 13th Global Investigative Journalism Conference (#GIJC23) in Sweden. “[Elected officials] do not have to kill or drive journalists into exile anymore. They just have to file lawsuits against the journalist.” — Nepalese publisher Kunda Dixit
Dixit, who has himself been the target of a SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation — case, was joined by Alexander Papachristou, executive director of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice; Carlos Galo, chief executive officer at Media Defence, which provides legal help to journalists; and Bea Bodrogi, a Hungary-based human rights lawyer who has worked on multiple SLAPP cases.
SLAPPs are a legal instrument used by powerful and influential people or entities to muzzle their critics from publishing materials considered critical. The main aim of a SLAPP is to bully, harass, or intimidate journalists and activists into silence, Bodrogi explained.
In 2017, Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by an explosive device hidden beneath her car seat, which detonated outside of her house in Bidnija, Malta. Caruana faced 48 libel cases before her death, and her family inherited some of them — underscoring how dangerous SLAPPs can be for journalists, Bodrogi said.
“Nowhere is safe anymore,” Dixit added. “[Elected officials] do not have to kill or drive journalists into exile anymore. They just have to file lawsuits against the journalist. If they cannot do it in the country the journalist is from, they just have to find a libel lawsuit to sue them in another jurisdiction.”
Bodrogi works with more than 100 journalists dealing with SLAPP cases, and shared some of the signs to help journalists identify whether they have become a SLAPP target.
In most cases, freelance journalists and small media organizations cannot defend themselves against these lawsuits. There is a need for systems that can help journalists and advocates deal with SLAPP cases without having to abandon their reporting assessments. What “SLAPPers” aim to do is occupy journalists’ time with court cases — taking them away from doing their job.
EU institutions are actively discussing the possibilities of providing recommendations, training, and free legal aid to journalists and activists being targeted by SLAPP suits. This opportunity is not available to journalists in many countries, but there are some organizations taking up these responsibilities.
Reporters Shield is a US-based nonprofit — developed by investigative journalists at the OCCRP and lawyers at the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice — that defends investigative reporters around the world from legal threats. The program registers organizations or outlets, for a fee, to become members, through which they then have access to legal consultation and representation. (The eligibility criteria for organizations — such as, that they have to be engaged in public interest or investigative reporting in print and online media — is outlined here.) Reporters Shield has about $500,000 in aid that is used to provide legal services to their members.
“What the Reporter’s Shield doesn’t do is pay if you lose,” Papachristou warned. “So if the court rules against you, fairly or unfairly, the cost is on you — but the expense of defending you is covered.” According to Papachristou, Reporters Shield has raised $13 million of its $20 million target from the US government through USAID and other donors. The program is in the first phase and is operating in North America and Europe, and will move to Sub-Saharan Africa and Australia in the second and third phases, respectively.
Media Defence provides grants to journalists who get sued for their work or links them with lawyers who are able to give them adequate legal support. “We have an in-house legal team of excellent lawyers who oversee this work and represent clients before International courts,” said its CEO, Carlos Galo, adding that Media Defence supports cases in 23 countries in all regions of the world. In 2022, Media Defence supported 188 cases, 40% of which were SLAPPs — a number that reflects the rise in SLAPP suits globally.
“We are trying to fight back, and we seek accountability for journalists who have been victims of human rights violations or who have been convicted in SLAPP cases,” said Galo, stressing that Media Defence is trying to address those issues by pursuing cases before regional courts or before the UN treaty bodies too.
Source of the cover photo: https://unsplash.com/
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