{"id":346555,"date":"2025-09-20T11:10:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=346555"},"modified":"2025-09-20T11:10:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:40:40","slug":"slapp-suits-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/slapp-suits-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SLAPP Suits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>News: <\/b>The Supreme Court, in a May 2024 judgment, cautioned against courts granting \u2018SLAPP\u2019 suits, or Strategic Litigation against Public Participation.<\/p>\n<h2>About SLAPP Suits<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_346557\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-346557\" style=\"width: 328px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-346557\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-European-Law-Centre.jpg?resize=328%2C245&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"328\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-European-Law-Centre.jpg?resize=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-European-Law-Centre.jpg?resize=1024%2C764&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-European-Law-Centre.jpg?resize=768%2C573&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Source-European-Law-Centre.jpg?w=1168&amp;ssl=1 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 328px) 100vw, 328px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-346557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; European Law Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>SLAPP<\/strong>\u00a0stands for\u00a0<em>Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\">SLAPP suits are <strong>legal actions<\/strong>\u2014often for <strong>defamation, libel, or similar claims<\/strong>\u2014that are <strong>initiated not to win damages<\/strong>, but mainly to <strong>burden, intimidate, or silence critics and public-interest advocates<\/strong> by subjecting them to lengthy, costly litigation.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Plaintiffs<\/strong> are usually <strong>entities with considerable economic or political power<\/strong> (corporations, politicians, or industry groups) who want to <strong>stifle public debate<\/strong>, media scrutiny, environmental advocacy, or whistleblowing.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Key Features<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Intent:<\/strong>\u00a0To censor or deter critics and activists, not to redress a genuine legal grievance.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Target:<\/strong>\u00a0Journalists, NGOs, activists, or individuals involved in public participation.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Impact:<\/strong>\u00a0The threat of massive damages and protracted litigation often forces defendants to retract or self-censor, causing a chilling effect on democratic discourse.<\/li>\n<li class=\"my-2 [&amp;+p]:mt-4 [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:inline-block [&amp;_strong:has(+br)]:pb-2\"><strong>Indicators:<\/strong>\u00a0Often features excessive claims, vague or frivolous grounds, and aggressive forum shopping (seeking courts favorable to the plaintiff).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Supreme Courts&#8217; Stand<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Bonnard Standard:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The court, under Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, invoked this standard which states that interim injunctions in defamation cases should only be granted in \u201cexceptional situations\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Three-fold Test:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The top court outlined a three-part test for trial judges to follow before granting an injunction:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Establishing a <b>prima facie case<\/b><span> of defamation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Considering the <b>balance of convenience<\/b><span>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Determining the <b>irreparable loss<\/b><span> or harm that publication would do.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: The Supreme Court, in a May 2024 judgment, cautioned against courts granting \u2018SLAPP\u2019 suits, or Strategic Litigation against Public Participation. About SLAPP Suits SLAPP\u00a0stands for\u00a0Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. SLAPP suits are legal actions\u2014often for defamation, libel, or similar claims\u2014that are initiated not to win damages, but mainly to burden, intimidate, or silence critics&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/slapp-suits-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">SLAPP Suits<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,1760,12039],"tags":[11872],"class_list":["post-346555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-polity-and-nation","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}