Thanks to serious shortcomings in the EU anti-SLAPP Directive, journalists, activists, public interest NGOs and academics remain at risk of weaponised litigation as the number of SLAPP suits continues to rise in Europe 👇
https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/en/news/case-report-2025-slapps-continue-to-increase-across-europe
#SLAPPs
🚨 The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition has a clear message for PM #KeirStarmer: include universal anti-SLAPP protections in the 2026 King’s Speech.
Today, 127+ representatives have published an open letter calling for parliamentary time to stamp out #SLAPPs ⬇️
antislapp.uk/2026/01/28/m...
Over 120 editors, lawyers, aca...
David Lammy is promising action of law suits intended to silence critics & journalists (referred to as SLAPPs - strategic lawsuits against public participation). But this is not the first time our political class has promised action on SLAPPs, so forgive me if I am reticent about celebrating any promised moves to curtail this sort of 'law fare' against transparency.
At the moment it remains more declaratory politics than actual legislative action!
📢 See you in court? Join us for a new Civic Journalism Coalition Webinar on 27 Nov. 📢
🤔 Are you a journalist or work for a civil society org? Are you interested in how to use journalistic evidence in litigation? And how to defend yourself against #SLAPPs?
➡️ https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/o7Yd4CRuT_akRtTQInKStg#/registration
Einschüchtern, drohen, klagen – so wird Kritik erstickt
#SLAPPs = Einschüchterungsklagen.
Ziel: Kritiker mundtot machen.
Die Bundesregierung legt ein #AntiSLAPP-Gesetz vor – aber ohne Schutz vor Abmahnungen bleibt es zahnlos.
Mehr Biss gegen SLAPP! 🐊 statt 🐠
✍️ Hier unterzeichnen:
https://www.regenwald.org/petitionen/1313/einschuechtern-drohen-klagen-so-wird-kritik-erstickt?t=27608
#SLAPP #StopSLAPP #AntiSLAPP #Meinungsfreiheit #Demokratie #RettetdenRegenwald
Dans son ouvrage « Réduire au silence », la juriste Sophie Lemaître démontre comment les procédures-bâillons – ou #SLAPPS - constituent une menace existentielle pour la démocratie et l’État de droit : https://www.ruedelechiquier.net/essais/523-reduire-au-silence.html
❌ Sherpa dénonce depuis des années ces procédures, qui ne visent pas la victoire judiciaire mais la censure. Pour retrouver notre plaidoyer 👉 https://www.asso-sherpa.org/plaidoyer-poursuites-baillons-et-represailles
pressefreiheit
#Einschüchterung oder rechtmäßige #Verteidigung?
Vob Ann-Kathrin #Leclere
Ein Referentenentwurf der Bundesregierung von Mitte Juni zur Umsetzung einer EU-Richtlinie in nationales Recht spaltet aktuell die Rechtslandschaft und Vertreter:innen der #Pressefreiheit.
Es geht um sogenannte „#Slapps“
https://www.taz.de/!6101904
YIKES! Please read and share this!
via @UnicornRiot
"We’ve been forced to spend around $55,000 to date because of Energy Transfer’s legal campaign against our freedom of the press.
"We’ve only raised back $38,916 of this so far.
"Your donation helps us keep operating despite corporate attempts to silence us"
https://donorbox.org/unicorn-riot-nodapl-legal-defense
#EnergyTransfer #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #MutualAid #LegalDefenseFund #SilencingDissent #Resistance #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchy #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism #EnergyTransfer #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux #IndigenousResistance #IndigenousAllies #DAPL #NorthDakota #StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #WaterProtectors #CorporateFascism #StandingRockReservation
slapp suits are vile, and a sign of a decaying, fascist and feudal society
#cdnpoli #canada #mexico #fascism #antifa #elbowsup #bcpoli #vancouver #burnaby #canlab #unitedhealthcare #amazon #vimeo #SLAPPs
https://dgivista.org/2025/07/14/slapp-suits-are-vile-and-a-sign-of-a-decaying-fascist-and-feudal-society/
So now that both #Apple and #Meta have formally appealed the #DMA fines that are just pocket money for them, can we please start calling those lawsuits for what they are: intimidation similar to #SLAPPs.
They are designed to bind public resources for years, which regulators will lack for enforcing the #DigitalMarketsAct, to intimidate civil servants in the @EUCommission, and to show us that #BigTech is above the law and that we are helpless.
Let's not be intimidated. #ResistBigTech
Greenpeace International begins groundbreaking Anti-SLAPP case to protect freedom of speech
#slapps
Greenpeace International begins groundbreaking Anti-SLAPP case to protect freedom of speech
#slapps
www.greenpeace.org/internationa...
Greenpeace International begin...
From the Marshall Islands to the Dakotas, environmental crimes cannot be covered up thediplomat.com/2025/05/from... #slapps
From Marshall Islands to Dakot...
Μπαράζ διώξεων στην Τήνο για τα Αιολικά – Ένας αγώνας που δεν φιμώνεται
https://infolibre.gr/2025/06/03/mparaz-dioxeon-stin-tino-gia-ta-aiolika-enas-agonas-poy-den-fimonetai/
# # #SLAPPs # #
Αγωγές SLAPP: Αγώνας ενάντια στη φίμωση δημοσιογράφων και πολιτών – Εκδήλωση 29/5 στο Ωραίον Ντεπώ
https://infolibre.gr/2025/05/29/agoges-slapp-agonas-enantia-sti-fimosi-dimosiografon-kai-politon-ekdilosi-29-5-sto-oraion-ntepo/
# # # #alterthess #SLAPPs #
Morgen ist #TagDerPressefreiheit. Doch wir verteidigen sie jeden Tag! Zuletzt haben wir mit der @OttoBrennerStiftung, dem Umweltinstitut und der dju in Verdi eine Studie dazu veröffentlicht, wie Unternehmen und rechtsextreme Akteure die Presse gezielt mit #SLAPPS einschüchtern.
Die Studie gibt es hier: https://www.otto-brenner-stiftung.de/einschuechterung-ist-das-ziel/
Du willst unsere Arbeit unterstützen? Dann schau einmal auf unserer Webseite vorbei: freiheitsrechte.org/mitmachen
In line with a global trend, #SLAPPs are increasingly used across #Europe by powerful individuals and entities to suppress public participation and critical reporting on public interest matters. Join this side-event to @unesco.org's #WPFD and register by April 30th! ⬇️
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t6n5noiowpxbrq5skuqcf72n/post/3lnf4njs7gc2s
It looks like #HandsOff was successful in that now the #TrumpRegime is going to try and silence the organizers!
Core Democratic groups are preparing to be targeted by the #Trump administration
By STEVE PEOPLES
Updated 12:14 PM EDT, April 15, 2025
NEW YORK (AP) — "As President Donald Trump pushes the historical boundaries of executive power, some of the Democratic Party’s core political institutions are preparing for the possibility that the federal government may soon launch criminal investigations against them.
"The Democrats’ dominant national fundraising platform, #ActBlue, and the party’s largest #protest group, #Indivisible, are working with their attorneys for just such a scenario, according to officials within both organizations. Trump’s top political allies have suggested both groups should face prosecution.
"Other Democratic allies are planning for Trump-backed legal crackdowns as well. Wary of antagonizing the Republican president, most prefer to stay anonymous for now.
" 'Every one of our clients is concerned about being arbitrarily targeted by the Trump administration. We are going to great lengths to help clients prepare for or defend themselves,' said Ezra Reese, political law chair at Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates and is chaired by Marc Elias, the lawyer who has himself been a Trump target.
"An FBI spokesperson declined to comment when asked about potential investigations into ActBlue and Indivisible. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not downplay the threat of a potential criminal probe when asked specifically whether Trump wants the FBI, the Treasury Department or any other federal agency to investigate Democratic groups."
#SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #USPol #CriminalizingDissent #Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TrafficInterference #Crackdown #SLAPPs #VagueLaws #ProtestOrganizers #ProtestSponsors #ProtestSupporters #FirstAmendment
From 2024: States Are Restricting Protests and Criminalizing Dissent
United States of Suppression is a series documenting the recent crackdown on dissent and protests in the U.S. This op-ed discusses what happens when protesting becomes a crime.
By Elly Page and Alana Greer
June 26, 2024
Excerpt: "Since 2017, 21 states across the country have passed new laws that restrict protests — nearly 50 in total — with dozens more being introduced annually.
"Most of these new laws increase criminal penalties for conduct, like interfering with traffic, involved in some kinds of protests. Under laws passed in states such as #Arkansas, #Iowa, and #Tennessee, protesters can spend up to a year in jail for 'obstructing' public #streets or #sidewalks, even though these are traditional venues for First Amendment-related activities. After protests against the #KeystoneXL Pipeline, 14 states dramatically increased penalties for trespassing, which would usually amount to a petty offense, if protesters enter lands with #pipelines or #pipeline construction sites.
"In many cases, these laws go further than punishing individual protesters to include the people and organizations that support them, putting organizers and community groups at risk. Under a recent law in #Oklahoma, an organization that 'conspires' with people to hold a protest can face felony penalties if the protest is deemed to be an 'unlawful assembly' — which state law defines vaguely enough to include a three-person protest that 'disturbs the public peace.' "
Read more:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/states-restricting-protests-criminalizing
#CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #PipelineProtestors #TrafficInterference #DisturbingThePeace #BogusCharges #Crackdown #SLAPPs #VagueLaws #ProtestOrganizers #ProtestSponsors #ProtestSupporters #FirstAmendment
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Texas
HB 3557: New criminal and civil penalties for protests around #CriticalInfrastructure
Creates new criminal sanctions and expansive civil liability for protests near pipelines and other infrastructure facilities, including those under construction. The law provides for four new criminal offenses. One, "impairing or interrupting operation of critical infrastructure facility," is defined as entering or remaining on facility property and intentionally or knowingly "impair[ing] or interrupt[ing] the operation of" the facility. The act is a state jail felony, punishable by up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine. This provision could target peaceful protests that, e.g., hinder access to #pipelines or #pipeline construction sites. A second offense, "intent to impair or interrupt critical infrastructure," is defined as entering or remaining on facility property "with the intent to impair or interrupt the operation of the facility." The act is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. This provision could capture peaceful protests that take place near a pipeline or other infrastructure facility, regardless of whether they actually impair or interrupt the facility's operations. The law also creates two new felony offenses for "damage" and "intent to damage" critical infrastructure. Under the law, an association that is found guilty of any of the offenses around critical infrastructure is subject to a $500,000 fine. The law also creates new civil and vicarious liability for individuals and organizations related to the criminal offenses: A defendant who engages in conduct covered by any of the criminal offenses is civilly liable to the property owner, as is an organization that "knowingly compensates" a person for engaging in the conduct. The property owner may sue for and claim actual damages, court costs, and exemplary damages.
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3557
Status: enacted
Introduced 6 Mar 2019; Approved by House 7 May 2019; Approved by Senate 20 May 2019; Signed by Governor Abbott 14 June 2019
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure
SB 2876: Heightened penalties for protesters who conceal their identity
Would increase criminal penalties that could cover peaceful protesters who choose to wear a mask. Under the bill, a protesters charged with “riot” would face more serious penalties if they were wearing a mask or other face covering with intent to conceal their identity, as compared to someone without a mask. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and $4,000, instead of a Class B misdemeanor. The crime of “riot” under Texas law is defined broadly and does not require violence or other unlawful conduct: The offense covers a group of seven demonstrators whose conduct “substantially obstructs law enforcement or other governmental function or services,” or whose “physical action deprives any person of a legal right or disturbs any person in the enjoyment of a legal right.” Under the bill, a protester who chose to wear a mask to avoid #retaliation for their political views could face significant jail time if their #NonviolentProtest was deemed a “#riot.”
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2876
Status: pending
Introduced 14 Mar 2025.
Issue(s): Face Covering, Riot
HB 3061: Heightened penalties for masked protesters
Would increase the penalty for protest-related offenses if committed by someone wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity while “congregating with other individuals who were disguised or masked.” Under the bill, the penalty for trespass, “disorderly conduct,” and “riot” would be one degree more severe if committed by a group in which some individuals wore masks. The bill provides an exemption to the penalty enhancement for masks worn during Halloween, a masquerade ball, or “similar celebration,” but not for avoiding retaliation for political speech. “Disorderly conduct” and “riot” are broadly defined under Texas law. Protesters who make “unreasonable noise” in public, for instance, may be charged with “disorderly conduct”; under the bill, such protesters could face significant jail time rather than a fine if they were masked. “Trespass” in Texas also carries significant penalties if committed on #CollegeCampuses, "critical infrastructure," or other select locations, such that peaceful protesters who trespassed on a college campus could face felony rather than misdemeanor penalties if they were masked to avoid retaliation.
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB3061
Status: pending
Introduced 19 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): Campus Protests, Face Covering, Infrastructure, Riot, Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #SLAPPs #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws
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