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What is a SLAPP and why does it matter?
A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) is a legal action — almost always in defamation, privacy, data protection, or harassment — brought not to secure a legitimate legal remedy but primarily to silence, intimidate, or exhaust the financial and psychological resources of a journalist or their outlet.
The hallmark of a SLAPP is disproportionality. The claimed damages vastly exceed any realistic assessment of reputational harm. The legal action targets not just the article complained of but the journalist’s broader work. The costs of defending — even a winning defence — are weaponised as a deterrent.
UK journalists have faced SLAPPs from oligarchs, kleptocrats, and their proxies. High-profile examples include proceedings against Catherine Belton (author of Putin’s People) and Tom Burgis (author of Kleptopia) — both ultimately withdrawn after sustained legal and public pressure, at enormous financial and personal cost to the journalists and their publishers.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) introduced early dismissal powers for SLAPPs related to economic crime. A defendant journalist can apply for summary dismissal of a claim that (a) relates to their reporting on economic crime and (b) the claimant cannot demonstrate a real prospect of success. This is a meaningful reform, but its scope is currently limited to economic crime matters.
When SLAPP law is most relevant
- ›You are investigating or have published stories about financial misconduct, money laundering, corruption, or kleptocracy.
- ›You receive legal threats before publication — designed to prevent the story from ever appearing.
- ›Multiple simultaneous claims are filed in different jurisdictions (often accompanied by threats in the UK, US, and EU simultaneously).
- ›The claimant is an overseas national or entity with no clear UK nexus but is using UK courts because of their claimant-friendly reputation.
- ›Threats extend beyond yourself to your publisher, your employer, freelance platforms you work with, or family members.
- ›The claimed damages are so large that even winning the case would be financially ruinous in costs.
SLAPP red flags checklist
- ●Pre-publication injunction applications or demands to see your copy before it is published.
- ●Claimed damages wildly disproportionate to any realistic reputational harm.
- ●Vague allegations that do not identify specific defamatory statements.
- ●Parallel claims in defamation, privacy, harassment, and data protection filed simultaneously.
- ●The claimant's lawyers have a known track record of SLAPP-style litigation.
- ●Threats extended to your editor, publisher, printer, or distributor.
- ●Threats made directly to your sources or colleagues to intimidate the broader investigation.
- ●The claimant is subject to sanctions designations or is connected to a regime with poor rule-of-law standards.
- ●The source of the claimant's funding is opaque or involves offshore structures.
- ●The claimant withdraws the claim only after incurring maximum cost and disruption — consistent with the chilling-effect purpose being achieved.
SLAPP response playbook: step-by-step
- Immediately instruct a specialist media law firm with SLAPP experience. Do not use a generalist solicitor.
- Contact the NUJ legal defence line (020 7843 3700) and report the claim as a potential SLAPP.
- Contact MLDI (Media Legal Defence Initiative) for pro bono or subsidised legal support.
- Contact the UK SLAPPs Coalition via Index on Censorship or the Foreign Policy Centre for advocacy support.
- Preserve all evidence: all legal correspondence, internal communications, evidence files, and source material.
- Assess whether the claim falls within the ECCTA 2023 economic crime scope — if so, consider an early dismissal application.
- Document the disproportionality of the claim in a formal memorandum: the damages claimed, the realistic harm, the cost of defence.
- Make a public record of the SLAPP threat where appropriate — transparency about SLAPP threats is itself a counter-strategy.
- Consider filing a costs protection application (qualified one-way costs shifting, if applicable) so your exposure is capped.
- Check whether the claimant is on the UK sanctions register — threatening a sanctioned person may itself attract scrutiny.
- Identify whether there are grounds for an abuse-of-process strike-out application under CPR 3.4.
- Do not settle without advice: SLAPP settlements often include non-disclosure agreements designed to prevent reporting on the SLAPP itself.
Tools for SLAPP situations
Use the defamation risk checklist to assess your public interest defence, and the risk register to document the proportionality of the threat.
Common mistakes when facing a SLAPP
- ⚠Treating a SLAPP as a routine legal threat and failing to mobilise specialist SLAPP-aware support quickly enough.
- ⚠Settling under cost pressure rather than fighting — which emboldens the claimant to SLAPP other journalists.
- ⚠Agreeing to NDAs that prevent you from even reporting that a legal threat was made against you.
- ⚠Failing to make the SLAPP public — transparency is one of the most effective deterrents.
- ⚠Not checking whether the claimant is a designated person under UK sanctions law.
- ⚠Failing to document the disproportionality from the outset, making it harder to argue abuse-of-process later.
Related guides
Responding to Legal Threats from Solicitors
How to read any solicitor's letter and take the right first steps.
Source Protection: Legal Framework & Practice
Protecting your sources while under legal siege.
SLAPPs: What Journalists Need to Know
In-depth background on SLAPPs and the reform campaign.
Journalism Ethics
NUJ Code, IPSO Editors' Code, and ethical decision-making in pressured situations.
Primary sources and support organisations
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a SLAPP?
A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation is a legal action — typically defamation, privacy, harassment, or data protection — brought not to vindicate a genuine grievance but primarily to silence, drain the resources of, or intimidate journalists, activists, or civil society organisations. The clue is often in the disproportion: massive claimed damages, multiple simultaneous claims, threats before publication, and pressure on publishers and platforms to take down content pre-emptively.
Does the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 protect all journalists from SLAPPs?
No. The ECCTA 2023 anti-SLAPP provisions are limited to cases involving "economic crime" as defined in the Act. They allow a defendant to apply for early dismissal if the claim relates to their reporting on economic crime matters and the claimant cannot show the claim has real prospects of success. For SLAPPs outside economic crime — for example, privacy or harassment claims by domestic oligarchs about non-financial wrongdoing — broader SLAPP reform legislation would be needed.
What is the SLAPPs Coalition and can it help me?
The UK SLAPPs Coalition is an alliance of press freedom organisations, NGOs, and legal bodies that campaign for legislative reform and provide support to journalists facing SLAPPs. Members include Index on Censorship, English PEN, the Foreign Policy Centre, ARTICLE 19, and others. They can provide moral and reputational support, publicise your case (with appropriate care), and connect you with pro bono or subsidised legal support through MLDI (Media Legal Defence Initiative).
Can I get legal aid for a SLAPP defence?
Legal aid for defamation claims is generally not available in England and Wales. However, MLDI (Media Legal Defence Initiative) provides direct legal assistance in appropriate cases. The NUJ legal defence fund covers members. Some specialist media law firms operate conditional fee agreements (CFAs) for strong defences. Contact the organisations listed in our related guides section as early as possible.
How do I distinguish a legitimate legal complaint from a SLAPP?
Legitimate complaints are proportionate, focused on specific published statements, brought through recognised channels (LBA, IPSO complaint, direct approach), and filed in the appropriate jurisdiction. SLAPPs tend to be disproportionate in scope and damages, involve multiple simultaneous legal routes, make vague allegations, arrive at threatening moments (pre-publication injunctions, out-of-hours letters), and come from claimants with deep pockets and a history of suppressing press coverage. The "chilling effect" motivation — cost, time, stress — is often more important to the claimant than the actual outcome.