Independent journalism is an indispensable cornerstone of our democracy; by providing citizens with reliable information and at the same holding those in power accountable, it is absolutely essential for the checks and balances without which democracy does not function properly, writes MEP Alexis Georgoulis.
Alexis Georgoulis is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Greek Syriza party (EU Left).
In order to be able to fulfil this important role in our society, journalism and press publishing has to be free from any political or other influence and must never be afraid of possible legal prosecution.
Unfortunately, so-called ‘SLAPPs’ – strategic lawsuits against public participation – have increasingly become a legal tool of the powerful to target journalists as well as other individuals or organizations of the civil society that work towards bringing important issues to public attention or advocating for policy change.
As the word ‘strategic’ suggests, SLAPPs abuse our justice system and are utilised to intimidate, harass and eventually silence critical voices. Ranging from defamation suits to criminal charges, they can take various legal forms and aim at financially draining the defendants and tying them up in long court processes – and deterring other critics from speaking out.
SLAPPs pose a significant threat to independent journalism and civil society – and hence to our whole democracy. I am therefore relieved that the European Union is currently working on a “directive on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings”.
Myself, I am actively involved in the ongoing legislative process as rapporteur of the opinion of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT). While the Commission’s initial proposal is overall very good, my function gives me the opportunity to contribute to a further improvement of the directive.
Starting by terminologies and definitions, including in the directive’s title, I believe that all SLAPPs – as lawsuits filed with an improper purpose – are abusive by their very nature and should be filtered out of the court system and made subject to sanctions.
Consequently, I am proposing to remove any divide between “manifestly unfounded” and “abusive” SLAPPs from the text. Given the difficulty of defining and using the term ‘strategic’ in the context of law, I am also suggesting renaming the term as “abusive lawsuits against public participation” (while keeping the abbreviation ‘SLAPP’ to avoid confusion).
Essentially, SLAPPs are attacks on freedom of speech. That is why I am proposing to extend the directive to include references to several other rights and freedoms inherently linked to the exercise of freedom of expression and information, e.g. the right to freedom of association and assembly as well as to freedom of the arts, culture and science.
By this, we can anchor a comprehensive and rights-based definition of the notion of ‘public participation’ which should be intended as participation in public life and decision-making, but also in the exercise of a watchdog role to promote accountability for activity that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent.
As for the personal scope of the directive, I believe the Commission’s proposal is too narrow. I am supporting a much broader scope, extending the legislation to claims brought against any natural or legal person engaging – directly or indirectly – in public participation. This approach would cover not only journalists and human rights defenders but all actors in our civil society, including researchers, academics, authors of creative works, artists, whistleblowers and publishers, thus reflecting the wide range of actors impacted by SLAPPs.
Ultimately, it is our civil society as a whole – comprising non-governmental organizations, community groups and individual citizens – that plays an equally important role in upholding democratic values, exercising their right to free speech and holding those in power accountable. In this respect, the EU’s new anti-SLAPP directive can mean a big step forward, provided that it will be properly transposed into national law and properly enforced.
Source: euractiv.com
