What is SLAPP?

Have you ever suffered an injustice and felt the need to speak up? Imagine living in a place where you can’t criticize those in power or speak openly about issues that are important to you. This is not as far-fetched as it might seem: it is already happening all over the world, including in the United States.

Democracy works best when all people have the ability to contribute to public debates, voice their opinions, and advocate for their communities’ interests. In the United States, we have the constitutional right to speak freely on issues of public concern, protest peacefully, and petition the government.

But we cannot take those rights for granted. In the United States and across the world, the powerful are turning the law into a weapon to silence their critics and trample on people’s rights.

“Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” (SLAPPs) are a particularly dangerous tactic. SLAPPs target community leaders, journalists, whistleblowers, civil society advocates, and everyday people who exercise their constitutional rights to speak up about issues of public concern. SLAPPs masquerade as ordinary civil lawsuits, but their true purpose is to retaliate against those who speak truth to power.

A SLAPP does not even need to be successful in court to have its intended effect. It can take years for a court to dismiss a SLAPP, no matter how bogus the claims. Years of litigation can take a toll on the defendant’s finances, reputation, and morale. In many cases, SLAPP bullies hope that the defendant will settle the case, agreeing to remain silent in exchange for ending the litigation.

How to spot a SLAPP

Unfortunately, SLAPPs are usually wrapped in complicated legal language and disguised as legitimate defamation cases or other personal injury lawsuits. No one ever admits to filing a SLAPP, but it is possible to distinguish a SLAPP from an ordinary civil lawsuit.

SLAPPs generally have one or more telltale signs:

Nature of the defendant: SLAPPs often target activists, nonprofit organizations, journalists, media organizations, and concerned citizens who speak up about a matter of public concern.
Track record of the plaintiff: Certain individuals, companies, and law firms have a track record of repeatedly using SLAPPs and other judicial harassment tactics against their critics.
Nature of the activity targeted: SLAPPs often accuse the defendant of a “wrongful activity” that is actually an activity protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, such as free speech, journalism, or nonviolent protest.
Power imbalance between the parties: SLAPPs often occur when the plaintiff has significantly more resources for a legal battle than the defendant.
Disproportionate claims of damages: SLAPP filers often seek disproportionately high damages from the defendant to “send a message,” even if they do not have evidence to show that they suffered any harm.
Use of the litigation process itself to punish the defendant: Litigation is often costly and psychologically stressful. Legitimate plaintiffs typically want to conclude their cases as quickly and efficiently as possible because their goal is to win their case. Many SLAPP filers, however, take advantage of the stresses of this process to drag out the case as long as possible, drive up costs for the defendant, embarrass the defendant in public, or bankrupt the defendant.
Attempts to create a broader chilling effect: SLAPP filers often try to use a lawsuit to send a message to a broader community of people by naming multiple people who are only loosely connected to the alleged wrongdoing as defendants, sending subpoenas to a wide range of people involved in a network or community, or singling out members of the community who are most vulnerable to intimidation due to their personal circumstances.

The Protect the Protest task force is committed to ending the threat that SLAPPs pose to civil society, free speech, free press, and democracy more broadly. If SLAPP bullies have their way, the impacts of their lawsuits could ripple through society, creating a chilling effect on free speech. People would stop criticizing the powerful for fear of retaliation. Public interest advocates would choose to stay silent, rather than to hold the powerful accountable. We must defend our rights to speak out, to criticize, to engage, and to protest peacefully. Because democracy needs dissent.

An Activist’s Guide: Reducing Exposure to SLAPP Lawsuits

March 12, 2019

Tags: guide, help, know your rights

The Protect the Protest task force encourages activists, community organizers, and public interest organizations in the United States to read An Activist’s Guide: Reducing Exposure to SLAPP Lawsuits. This guide provides an introduction to SLAPPs and advice on how to respond if you face a SLAPP threat. We hope…

An Environmental Advocate’s Guide to Avoiding Defamation and Other Publication Lawsuits

May 31, 2005

The First Amendment Project wrote this guide to help protect environmental advocates from defamation lawsuits. However, this resource provides guidance on avoiding defamation that is not only useful for environmental organizations, but a broader range of civil society groups.

Best Practices for Avoiding Publication Liability

November 21, 2018

Tags: Defamation, Prevention

Suppose you are campaigning on an important topic and want to publish a blog, tweet, article, video, or report that exposes the wrongdoing of a company or individual. What steps can you take to avoid publication liability? The First Amendment Project has developed a Factsheet on Avoiding Publication Liability…

Defamation, Libel, Slander…and Other Common SLAPP disguises

August 10, 2018

The California Anti-SLAPP Project created this factsheet to explain the types of legal claims (such as defamation, invasion of privacy, and conspiracy) that are often used to disguise a SLAPP. The definitions on this sheet apply specifically to California law, but provide a general overview that can…

Encyclopedia of Types of SLAPPs

August 28, 2018

Legal bullies never admit that they are filing a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP); SLAPPs come disguised as legitimate legal claims. Here are some of the most common types of legal theories used in SLAPPs. Note: these legal theories all appear in legitimate lawsuits, as well; in each case,…

Guarding Against the Chill: A Survival Guide for SLAPP Victims

May 31, 2018

The First Amendment Project created this handbook to help individuals and organizations identify SLAPPs and protect themselves. This includes preemptive actions to reduce exposure to SLAPPs and actions to take if a SLAPP bully targets you or your organization.

How Litigation Throttles Civic Advocacy

May 22, 2017

Tags: Greenpeace, Resolute, RICO

Bunny Mcdiarmid, Executive Director of Greenpeace International discusses how corporations are using SLAPPs to target advocacy groups. This article explains why corporations would pursue a lawsuit that they expect to lose: “In many ways, hiring goons is a lot easier and…

How SLAPPs Undermine Democracy: A Case Study of the USA

September 14, 2018

Tags: ETP

Charlie Holt, Legal Counsel at Greenpeace International, examines the rise of corporate power in democracies worldwide. With governments increasingly powerless to hold corporations accountable for wrongdoing, Holt writes that corporations are “increasingly responsive to only one thing: the opinion of their customers.”…

How the Wealthy Use Frivolous Lawsuits to Silence Activists, Journalists, and Even Victims of Sexual Violence

September 12, 2018

Tags: #MeToo

In this article for Salon, Amanda Marcotte reports on the launch of the Protect the Protest task force, as well as the wide range of public interest organizations affected by SLAPPs. This includes, for example, media organizations, environmental activists, and sexual…

Revoke Chevron’s License to Spill!

June 11, 2021

Justice must be served in the Amazon In an effort to shareChevron’s widespread harms in a new, engaging way, the Protect the Protest task force is proud to launch our License to Spill campaign. Our hope is to bring a wider audience into the fight for justice for the people… Read More

SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out (1996)

January 01, 1996

This book, by the two professors who coined the term “SLAPP,” charts the history of SLAPPs. The book examines the history of how the courts have addressed SLAPPs and looks at trends during the 1970s-1990s. An excerpt of the book is available here. The full book can…

SLAPPs: Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (1989)

September 01, 1989

The Pace Environmental Law Review published this article in 1989 by one of the two professors who coined the term “SLAPP.” This article analyzes the legal implications of SLAPPs, while a counterpart article by Penelope Canan examines SLAPPs from a sociological perspective.

The First Annual SLAPP Awards 2018

February 25, 2019

Tags: awards, SLAPPies

Last year was a busy year for corporate bullies in the US. It seems nowadays that a corporation or high-ranking businessman can’t even engage in a light spot of environmental destruction, harassment, or treason without some pesky activist or journalist getting in the way. Corporate bullies have increasingly… Read More

Tongue-in-cheek ‘SLAPP Awards’ celebrate the corporations, lawyers using courts to silence free speech

February 25, 2019

Tags: awards, SLAPPies

The Protect the Protest task force announces first-annual accolades for biggest legal bullies and shadiest lawyers of the year to coincide with the Academy Awards. PRESS RELEASE For immediate release: February, 25, 2019 Washington, DC — Last year was a banner year… Read More

United Nations Human Rights Expert Expresses Concern With Growing SLAPP Trend

December 31, 2017

Ms. Annalisa Ciampi, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, issued this report on the risks that SLAPPs pose to fundamental human rights protected under international law.

Facing a SLAPP Threat? Here are 10 Resources to Help You

November 21, 2018

Tags: Prevention

Our democracy depends on checks and balances – and those who work to expose the wrongdoing of America’s rich and powerful have a critical role to play. But this work is becoming increasingly risky: community activists, civil society campaigners and journalists face the growing threat of retaliation for… Read More

This New Coalition Protects Protesters’ Right to Civil Disobedience

September 19, 2018

Tags: Launch

Ben Paynter reports in Fast Company on the launch of the Protect the Protest task force. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) often involve a power imbalance, in which a wealthy corporation or individual attempts to force a smaller or less-resourced nonprofit organization,… Read More

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