Anti-SLAPP Focus at International Press Freedom Seminar
SLAPPs against journalists were the main focus of the Fourth International Press Freedom Seminar in Ghent, which was held on 12 December. The event was organized by professors from the Ghent University’s Faculty of Law and Criminology as well as the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences. This particular conference has been a few years in the making – the theme of the conference had been chosen back in 2020, but the in person meeting delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The conference had quite an ironic start. The Belgian Minster of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, was unable to attend the seminar in person, since he is currently facing threats to his life. The Minister’s security has been carefully monitored since a kidnap plot was foiled earlier in the autumn. The urgency of the topic was thus underlined, as it was not possible for a minister to speak in public about freedom of press, without risking his own safety.
The seminar presented various aspects of Anti-SLAPP work. Firstly, Prof. Dr. Dirk Voorhoof gave a presentation which informed the participants of the legislative steps being take by the EU and on possible effects of the draft Directive if and when it comes into force. The likely significance of EU laws protecting journalists from SLAPPs was then emphasized by two witnesses who shared their personal stories.
Matthew Caruana Galizia, whose mother Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated after publishing critical articles against the Maltese government and other corruption scandals, gave an especially emotional insight on what it is like to actually experience SLAPPs.
The economic effects of SLAPPs were demonstrated by a journalist from the Belgian independent news site Apache. After publishing investigative reports on project developer Erik van der Paal in Antwerp, Apache was involved in several proceedings. The journalists were acquitted in all cases, that were later classified as an abuse of process.
These real-life accounts foregrounded a panel discussion which focused on support mechanisms for journalists facing SLAPPs. The experts, including Charlie Holt from Greenpeace and Pia Lindholm from the European Commission’s DG Justice, discussed a broad range of questions. These included the implication of EU proposals for domestic SLAPP cases, whether lawyers involved in initiating SLAPP cases should be held morally accountable and where there might be difficulties in applying the future law.