100 signatures reached
To: Minister of Justice, DCMS Minister and Foreign Secretary
Stop the rich and powerful ruining the lives of those who speak up
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Published by the National Union of Journalists on behalf of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition.
A sexual violence survivor naming her attacker in the pursuit of justice.
A sexual violence survivor naming her attacker in the pursuit of justice.
A journalist investigating the use of British property to disguise the wealth of a Russian oligarch.
People coming together on a Facebook group to share their experiences and campaign on something they believe in.
What ties all these people together?
They are all at risk.
Abusive legal threats can weaponise the British courts against anyone who dares raise their voice. Lives are at best put on hold and at worst ruined as unfair and cynical legal proceedings suck their target’s time, money, livelihoods and wellbeing. And what they can’t say, we cannot read or hear. We all suffer. SLAPPs affect everyone’s right and ability to speak out about the issues that are important to them. By signing this petition and sharing it we are calling on the Government to ensure that free expression is not something the powerful and wealthy can control.
The Government must ensure that everyone who speaks out in the public interest is protected from abusive legal threats aimed at silencing them. Join us in calling for SLAPPs to be banned now!
Why is this important?
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are abusive legal threats and lawsuits filed to silence critical speech. They are used by oligarchs, public officials, sexual abusers, warlords and opaque business leaders, to target journalists, whistleblowers, campaigners, academics, social media users and community groups. Anyone who speaks out is at risk.
Defending threats and court actions in the UK can be enormously expensive, and SLAPP claimants often try to delay every step to make it as costly as possible. The more costly and time-intensive, the more likely the target will step back from what they are doing, knowing they do not have the money or time needed to defend themselves. As a result, the SLAPP cases we hear about are only the tip of the iceberg. As many never make it to court, we may never know the true scale of the problem as too many people have been threatened into silence, fearful of saying anything in case it could attract the ire of the SLAPP claimant.
If we allow SLAPPs to continue, too much information will be removed from the public realm. Without this information, we cannot scrutinise the decisions made by the powerful, examine allegations of wrongdoing or illuminate the influence of opaque actors in our democracy.
This is happening far too often:
- Nina Cresswell was sued and forced to defend herself in court after naming her attacker to warn others
- Eliot Higgins was sued for a series of tweets including details a Russian warlord knew to be true
- Paul Radu, a Romanian journalist was sued by an Azerbaijani MP. Neither were based in the UK, but still the British courts welcomed this SLAPP
- Dan Neidle was threatened by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose lawyers tried to prevent him from publishing the legal letters
- Four Russian oligarchs and a state owned oil company threatened legal action against Catherine Belton for a book documenting Putin’s rise to power
How can we stamp out SLAPPs?
SLAPPs cannot be stamped out by reforming individual laws. This would be futile - as soon as one law was reformed, the SLAPP claimants will simply find another to abuse. This is why we need a standalone Anti-SLAPP Law that offers universal, clear and easy to access protections against abusive legal threats. The longer we wait the more people can be threatened into silence by those with deep pockets.
The Government has already signalled its support - now is the time for action.
What you can do:
- Sign this petition
- Share the petition with your network
- Send this template letter to your constituency MP calling them to support the move to establish an anti-SLAPP Law and support those silenced by legal abuse