Journalists do not become journalists to prepare for court hearings. They join newsrooms, submit FOI requests, ask questions, report from council hearings and courts and speak to as many people as they can because they have a story to tell. They also know that local communities do better when there is more information in the public domain, not less.

Journalism is vital for local democracy to hold power in check and give a voice to the community, ensuring no one is beyond scrutiny. However, unchecked wealth and influence has a powerful ally in its quest to prevent questions being asked and sheltering itself from uncomfortable attention; the British justice system.

Abusive lawsuits, sometimes called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), allow those with money to threaten costly and time-intensive court action to prevent reporting being made public or to force published work from the public eye.

Abusive lawsuits are not genuine attempts to address flaws in the journalist’s work. Indeed, many journalists are sued just for asking questions or requesting comment from someone who has not even read the piece before deciding to sue them. SLAPPs are attempts to silence reporting and cordon off those deserving of scrutiny from any form of public accountability.

All forms of journalism are vulnerable to this sort of abuse from legal bullies. For investigating Putin’s rise to power, Catherine Belton was threatened by multiple Russian oligarchs and a Russian state oil company; Paul Radu, the co-founder of OCCRP, was sued by an Azerbaijan MP in London even though neither are based in the UK; the UK Treasury were only too happy to allow disgraced and sanctioned Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin to sue Bellingcat founder, Eliot Higgins; and the legal action, including threats of imprisonment, aimed at The Londoner by the subject of its reporting.

But these tactics are not limited to national or international outlets; local journalists and smaller outlets can also be targeted by the same or similar abusive legal threats.

Journalists are not the only ones who can be targeted to spike a story. SLAPPs have been used against survivors of sexual assault who have named their attackers to warn other women; they have been used against local campaigners working tirelessly to improve public services for themselves and their neighbours; they have been used against former patients who have posted reviews to inform others exploring potential medical treatment; they have been used against environmentalists fighting to protect endangered species and eco-systems from corporate greed; they have been used against tenants who have the temerity to request repairs are made in good time and that complaints are taken seriously. In fact, there are few areas of society untouched by this form of legalised bullying, and so we have to ask – who has been threatened into silence, so much so that they are too fearful to speak to a journalist?

SLAPPs remove information from the public domain. Every story, social media post, blog, report or published piece of work removed by a target who cannot afford to mount a defence, cannot afford to turn away from their work to prepare for going to court, and cannot afford to endure the complexity and unpredictability of the British justice system, is something that leaves us all worse off.

However, next month the government has an opportunity to re-address the balance to ensure that those targeted by legal bullies have the same right to justice as those wealthy enough to afford the legal costs. If the King’s Speech includes a Bill that will establish universal, clear and meaningful anti-SLAPP protections, we know legislative time will be put aside for Parliamentarians to take an important step for the rights of everyone to speak out.

This op-ed has been provided by the co-chairs of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition:

• Nik Williams, Index on Censorship
• Susan Coughtrie, Foreign Policy Centre
• Charlie Holt, Climate Legal Defense

The UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition is an informal working group established in January 2021 comprising a number of freedom of expression, whistleblowing, anti-corruption and transparency organisations, as well as media lawyers, researchers and academics.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday suspended the fuel tax in response to the Iran war in his first act after securing a majority government.

Carney said that with fuel prices increasing sharply, he is suspending the federal fuel excise tax from next Monday until Labor Day, Sept. 7. He called it a “responsible, temporary measure” that also will reduce costs for truckers and businesses.

Carney’s Liberals now have 174 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons and won’t need support from opposition parties to pass legislation after winning three districts that became vacant after last year’s election.

Carney’s government is the first in Canada’s history to switch from a minority to a majority between national elections.

The Liberal Party could stay in power until 2029 after Monday’s results.

Carney said he wants to focus on affordability, housing and accelerating major economic projects.

“Voters have placed their trust in our new government’s plan,” he said.

Carney won Canada’s election last year, fueled by public anger over U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats. He has vowed to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S.

Five defections from opposition parties, including four from the main opposition Conservative party, later put Carney’s Liberals on the cusp of the majority.

One of those defectors referenced Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in his decision. In that speech, Carney condemned economic coercion by great powers against smaller countries, and received widespread praise.

Carney, the former head of the Bank of England as well as Canada’s central bank, has moved the Liberals to the center-right since replacing Justin Trudeau as prime minister.

Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, said Trump has been a major factor in Carney’s rise to prime minister, but his performance on the world stage has added to his popularity.

“Canadians liked seeing how well he was received at Davos and have been impressed by his travels abroad — he visited 13 countries by last September — in search of new alliances, investments and trade pacts. World leaders want to do business with him,” Wiseman said.