Sue the Messenger: the fight for free media in India

Aratrika Halder writes:

Rarely are acronyms so perfectly aligned to their meaning as Strategic Litigations Against Public Participation — or SLAPP — suits, which shrink the space for free and fair investigative journalism. Defamation suits and legal notices threatening defamation are tactics used by corporates to intimidate journalists and writers whose work reveals chinks in the armour constructed for a company by their publicity machinery. Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual report noted a rise in businesses “using their financial power to silence journalists through lawsuits that chill critical reporting”.

Read about the book on the News Laundry website here.