last week, Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif) have introduced federal anti-SLAPP legislation to protect journalists, whistleblowers, and individual Internet users from those who use lawsuits as an intimidation tactic.
SLAPP lawsuits (formally known as Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) are designed to prevent people from exercising their right to free speech. A common example is suing a media outlet after unfavorable reporting. In other words, they are trying to bankrupt journalists with legal fees, even if the media outlet ultimately wins the case. Such lawsuits are already illegal in 34 states. However, there is no such legislation at the federal level.
Raskin and Kiley’s bill, the “Free Speech Protection Act,” would allow people being sued for speech conduct to file a special motion to dismiss the lawsuit as a SLAPP. The party filing the SLAPP lawsuit must then pay the defendant’s legal fees.
The implementation of the bill is being rushed before the next president takes office. Trump and his company have sued a wide range of media companies for defamation. new york times on a local Wisconsin TV station. Most recently, Trump filed a lawsuit against CBS over the editing of Kamala Harris’s ’60 Minutes’ interview, claiming that the interview was a ‘consumer fraud’. (CBS is moving to have the lawsuit dismissed before Trump takes office.)
Candidates for positions in the Trump administration are following in the president’s footsteps. Pete Hegseth was accused of sexual assault just days after being nominated as Secretary of Defense. Now he is saying he will sue his accuser for extortion if his position is not confirmed. Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to head the FBI, threatened to sue a former White House colleague for defamation after he claimed he had a habit of lying.
“I think those threats are a good example of why it’s so important to have legal protections like this federal bill,” said ACLU litigation attorney Vera Eidelman. “We don’t have to worry about having to defend a lawsuit and spending time, money and stress just because we want to say something about a matter of public concern.”
Raskin introduced a similar bill in 2022, but it did not pass. But since then, more state-level anti-SLAPP bills have been signed into law. Advocates believe there is a better chance this time.
Coalitions pushing bipartisan legislation often include opposing organizations. The Corporate Accountability Organization is listed next to the Freedom of the Press Institute, which is well known for encouraging unrestricted corporate spending in politics. “Because they all know someone or some organization that has had to deal with these frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing people,” said David Keating of the Free Press Institute.
At the state level, anti-SLAPP laws are often passed almost unanimously. And Keating said about 60% of the U.S. population is currently subject to such laws. But those who file these lawsuits often do so in federal court, he added. “Because there are a lot of speeches on the Internet, they may try to argue that this is not a dispute between two people in the same state,” he said.
After the PRESS Act, a protection law for journalists, was blocked in the Senate by Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on December 10, Raskin’s bill is one of the few options that would be much stronger and protect journalists from lawsuits from the rich. One of them. They are even more so as Trump resumes power.
“There’s that old saying you can sue a ham sandwich, right?” Keating said. “I mean, that’s the way it is in federal court. Anyone can file a lawsuit, no matter how stupid they are.”
