Bipartisan bill would protect speech from harassing lawsuits


SLAPPs are lawsuits intended to chill and punish constitutionally protected speech, including journalism.
Strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs, threaten free speech.
SLAPPs are frivolous lawsuits often brought by the wealthy and powerful against speech they dislike. SLAPPs chill reporting, activism, and criticism by forcing defendants to spend time and money defending themselves. We need strong laws that stop SLAPPs at both the state and federal level.

The First Amendment provides the press some of the greatest protections in the world against liability from powerful forces attempting to use libel law to silence critics. Unfortunately, that won’t stop many wealthy individuals and corporations from trying to sue smaller news organizations and bloggers—even knowing they will lose the …