NUJ signs letter to UK prime minister calling for urgent anti-SLAPP legislation
The NUJ has joined over 120 organisations, publishers, editors, lawyers, and academics in urging the UK government to stamp out abusive and spurious lawsuits aimed at silencing journalists and whistleblowers.
The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition, comprising 127 cross-sector representatives including the NUJ, sent an open letter to prime minister Keir Starmer, calling for provisions addressing Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to be included in the next King’s Speech, which is expected in May.
While the prime minister, and other members of his cabinet, have spoken about the need to tackle SLAPPs, no new legislation has been brought forward under the current government. The letter states that while the inclusion of anti-SLAPP measures in the 2023 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) was a welcome and official recognition of the problem, its provisions are both limited in scope and flawed in approach.
The letter calls for parliamentary time to be dedicated to advancing “universally applicable, and robust, anti-SLAPP measures to ensure our courts can no longer be abused by those seeking to avoid the sort of scrutiny that sustains democracy.”
Threats have increased in recent years, as we have seen in SLAPP cases involving Carole Cadwalladr, Catherine Belton, Tom Burgis, Nina Cresswell, openDemocracy, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), and countless others, demonstrating the urgent need for action to ensure free speech remains free.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“SLAPPs place a huge financial and emotional strain on journalists and media organisations, stifling public interest journalism and obstructing the public’s right to know. The UK government must now prioritise legislation to stop those with thin skins and thick wallets misusing the courts to stymie reporting and evade scrutiny.”
The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition co-chairs said:
“A commitment to stamp out SLAPPs is a commitment to ensuring British justice remains a level playing field. Only then can SLAPP targets - be they journalists, campaigners, local organisers, sexual violence survivors, victims’ advocates or anyone speaking out in the public interest - mount a defence without being threatened into silence by the costs, trauma and disruption an abusive legal threat can cause.
“With the significant number of signatories, demonstrating the consensus across many sectors of society, echoing that already seen across political parties, we hope this letter serves to underscore to the government the urgency of this issue, and the need to prioritise introducing measures that protect the right to speak up to challenge wrongdoing, scrutinise power and express ourselves freely.”
Read the open letter in full.