SLAPP: a new engagement by the EU Commission DG Justice - Article

The Directorate-General Justice and Consumers of the EU Commission answers the letter sent by ECPMF and co-signed by OBCT and dozens of organisations: the committment to develop new rules to protect journalists and activists from strategic lawsuits is now a written promise. Here some text of the answer signed by Marie-Helene BOULANGER, Head of Unit

Malta: Renewed call for justice 1,000 days after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia - Article

Together with other media freedom and human rights organisations, OBCT again demands justice for all those involved in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was also a victim of several SLAPPs. Here the text of the call

Sued Into Silence: How the rich and powerful use legal tactics to shut critics up - Reports

A study about SLAPP, strategic lawsuits against public participation, that highlights the situation in Europe, with suggestions and inputs for the future

MAPPING MEDIA FREEDOM: a Four-Month Snapshot - Reports

Overview and data analysis of the monitoring activity of the Media Freedom Rapid Response from March to June 2020

Carcere e giornalisti: l'appello del consorzio MFRR alla Consulta - Article

I partner del consorzio Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) si appellano alla Corte Costituzionale Italiana perché consideri incostituzionale la pena del carcere nelle condanne per diffamazione: un primo passo verso una riforma legislativa più ampia che adegui l’Italia agli standard europei

Letter to the European Commission: legal abuse of lawsuits is a threat to journalists - Article

SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, are a danger for media freedom and together with other media freedom and human rights ngos we signed a letter to the European Commission urging European institutions to find different solutions at different levels. Here the letter to Ms Pia Lindholm, Deputy Head of Unit for Civil Justice, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers of the European Commission

SLAPPs: the Italian Case - Legal Resources

Strategic lawsuits threaten freedom of expression in Italy too: in this analysis, an overview of the situation, the threats, the chilling effect, and the bills currently under discussion in the Italian Parliament

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.

Liability and jurisdictional issues in online defamation cases - Reports

Content published online in one state can produce effects on an unlimited number of persons. An allegedly defamatory statement can therefore be claimed to have produced damage in several states, which may result in complex international legal disputes

The Free Speech Century - Books

In The Free Speech Century, two of America's leading First Amendment scholars, Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone, have gathered a group of the nation's leading constitutional scholars - Cass Sunstein, Lawrence Lessig, Laurence Tribe, Kathleen Sullivan, Catherine McKinnon, among others - to evaluate the evolution of free speech doctrine since Schenk and to assess where it might be headed in the future