Protect the Protest. Stopping SLAPP. Defending Dissent - Support Centres

A task force of nonprofit organizations that have long dealt with SLAPP threats (threats coming from strategic lawsuits against public participation).

The organizations of "Protect the Protest" have combined their expertise and collective power to protect the free speech of public interest advocates in the United States.

They declare: "An attack on one is now an attack on all".

The task force includes experienced lawyers, journalists, communications professionals, and activists, in order to stand together as one to expose courtroom bullying, and protect the right to boldly speak the truth.

The approach is threefold:

● Building Resilience to SLAPPs - providing resources and training for civil society organizations, community leaders, journalists, and the broader public on how to best protect themselves from SLAPPs and what to do if they’re targeted. This includes a network of attorneys to defend those facing SLAPPs, especially individuals and small organizations with extremely limited resources.

● Exposing SLAPPs and Those Who File Them - drawing on their own organizations’ campaigning, communications, and legal expertise to support public interest advocates and watchdogs targeted by SLAPPs. This includes campaigning against the biggest SLAPP offenders, as well as legal defense where resources allow.

● Campaigning on Strategic Issues - When a specific SLAPP poses a broader threat to civil society or to democracy, they mobilize their collective resources to protect the rights to free speech and peaceful protest. Likewise, when opportunities arise to advance anti-SLAPP policies or laws, we engage in close collaboration with other stakeholders.

Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) - Support Centres

The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) is a Turkish non-profit (registered as Medya ve Hukuk Çalışmaları Derneği) founded in late 2017.

The main goals of the association, as stated in its website, are:

• offering legal protection to journalists who are punished for expressing their thoughts
• promoting the public’s right to information, particularly by supporting good finance and science journalism
• promoting rights of minority groups, with a concentration on refugees and the LGBTI community.

Norwegian Union of Journalists - Support Centres

The Norwegian Union of Journalists (Norsk Journalistlag) is the union representing the people working in the journalism sector in Norway, and it includes the vast majority of them. Besides acting in order to improve its members' working conditions, the union is active in promoting journalism ethics and freedom and in monitoring the state of journalism in Norway and abroad. It provides its members with legal and professional assistance, as well as with several education and grant opportunities. The union also publishes the online magazine Journalisten , devoted to media issues. Contacts to get in touch with the union are nj@nj.no and +47 22 05 39 50. 

Union of Icelandic Journalists - Support Centres

The Union of Icelandic Journalists (Blaðamannafélag Íslands) is the union representing the journalism professionals in Iceland. Founded in 1897 and counting on some 500 members, the union monitors the state of the media and of media work in the country. It negotiates some working conditions for its members, and it provides them with legal support and educational or professional opportunities. The union can be contacted at bi@press.is or at +354 553-9155.