Fifteen Organizations Condemn Lawsuit against Forensic News, deeming it a SLAPP - Article

The undersigned organisations express their serious concern at the legal proceedings that have been brought against investigative journalist Scott Stedman, his U.S. media company Forensic News, and three of his colleagues

SLAPPs in Europe: How the EU can protect watchdogs from abusive lawsuits - Reports

This report is the joint submission to the European Commission public consultation on EU action against SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation

SLAPP and democracy, side effects and collateral damage - Article

Strategic lawsuits against public participation heavily impact on the citizens' right to be informed - that is why society needs to be able to respond to and to prevent this kind of abuse of legal tools. Here is a series of analysis and perspectives inspired by cases involving journalists and human rights defenders in Italy

Serbia: Wave of lawsuits against investigative portal KRIK chills media freedom - Article

In recent months, KRIK’s newsroom has been targeted by ten different procedures requesting a total of 90 million dinars in damages. MFRR partners believe that these cases are a form of SLAPPs and demand urgent actions to address the growing phenomenon in the country 

Greece: SLAPP lawsuit underscores need for swift EU directive - Article

The independent media outlet Alterthess received a lawsuit filed by the firm Hellas Gold, convicted of environmental crimes. MFRR partners underline the need for an EU Anti-SLAPP Directive to protect journalists reporting in the public interest

Daphne Caruana Galizia: Landmark Public Inquiry recommendations must be implemented - Article

We the undersigned organisations welcome the conclusions and recommendations of the milestone Public Inquiry into the assassination of Malta’s leading investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Now is the moment for the Maltese authorities to consider and accept the Board’s detailed recommendations and to publish a plan of action on how they will be implemented in a non-partisan manner without delay and ensure better protection of journalists going forward

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in the European Union. A comparative study - Reports

A study commissioned by the European Commission with the aim to shed light on the legal environment of SLAPP in the European Union and its Member States

Resolution 2382 (2021) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Media freedom, public trust and the people’s right to know - Legal Resources

With 111 votes in favor, 4 against and 16 abstensions, the PACE adopted a resolution promoted one year and a half ago by the Italian Roberto Rampi. The motion stated that "today, human rights, democracy and the rule of law are challenged by post-truth narratives, which are unfortunately gaining strength and public support. At the same time, the concentration and lack of transparency of media ownership hamper true media pluralism, and recurrent attempts to manipulate public opinion undermine constructive public debate. In this alarming context, people are losing their entitlement to a free and conscious self-determination, and public trust in media and democratic institutions is declining"

Thematic factsheet: SLAPP in Italy, a democratic emergency - Article

by Paola Rosà

A limited selection of cases from an ocean of lawsuits. A paper sent to the INI rapporteurs of the Draft Report on the strengthening democracy and media freedom and pluralism in the EU: the undue use of actions under civil and criminal law to silence journalists, NGOs and civil society

New website of the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe - Article

CASE is a coalition of NGOs from across Europe representing a range of different public watchdogs united in recognition of the threat posed to their work by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), abusive lawsuits designed to silence critical speech. Join CASE for the launch of their new website on 26 March, 11:30am CET