Critical research in sight – Abusive lawsuits against media and NGOs are increasing – News


Contents

They are increasingly being threatened with intimidating court actions across Europe. Swiss organizations are also affected. The professional association of journalists and several aid organizations in this country are now demanding that politicians take action against such lawsuits.

In Europe there are more and more abusive lawsuits, so-called slaps. In 2022, the coalition against slaps counted 161 newly filed lawsuits in Europe, compared to 26 fewer cases the year before. A total of 820 lawsuits have been registered since 2010. With abusive court actions, companies, private individuals or authorities try to prevent unwanted and critical research.

Media professionals and non-governmental organizations have recently been increasingly confronted with sometimes massive and intimidating court actions. Swiss media organizations and aid organizations are now demanding that politicians take action against such slaps.

Abusive lawsuits have this dimension


Open the box
Close the box

At European level, the number of abusive lawsuits is increasing. According to SRF media editor Klaus Bonanomi, such lawsuits are directed not only against non-governmental organizations and media companies, but also against “individuals who are even less able to defend themselves than organizations,” for example freelance media professionals, whistleblowers or environmental activists.

The lawsuits also involve a lot of money, says Bonanomi: “In Spain, an energy company is demanding 17 million euros in damages from a newspaper because of a controversial report.” There are around a dozen such lawsuits pending in Switzerland.

According to its own statements, the Swiss organization Public Eye is increasingly receiving threats of legal action. In the past, she has uncovered grievances on several occasions, which were not always well received by the companies concerned. For example, research showed that a Swiss company delivered pesticides that may be carcinogenic to Costa Rica, or that farmers in Indonesia were being driven out because of a Zug-based raw materials company’s coal mining project.

Additional legal effort due to lawsuits

“Of course, we work in such a way that we are convinced that this is solid, fact-based research,” emphasizes Christa Luginbühl from Public Eye. “We work in international networks and also have direct information about local situations.” Their reports are therefore watertight and legally binding. Only once in recent years has Public Eye been called back by a court and had to take a photo off the internet.

We are not intimidated, but we are certainly slowed down in our work.

But recently such threats of lawsuits have been increasing, often with the sole purpose of intimidating them and preventing them from publishing critical research, regrets Christa Luginbühl. “This already affects us in our everyday work. I wouldn’t say we’re intimidated, but we’re certainly slowed down in our work.”

Approaches to prevent abusive lawsuits


Open the box
Close the box

On the one hand, it is their right if people or companies respond to false accusations against them in public with a lawsuit. But how can action be taken against the abuse of this right? One approach, which, according to SRF media editor Klaus Bonanomi, is currently being discussed at EU level, starts with the amount in dispute, “i.e. when the amount in dispute is obviously far too high”. Lawsuits that are too extensive or large teams of lawyers take action against a single small NGO or a single activist are also signs of an abusive lawsuit, says Bonanomi. “You could use characteristics like these to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

In Switzerland, parliament refused to seek regulation for such slaps in the spring. “But if the EU were to come to a decision, then a similar regulation could come back into play in Switzerland,” says Bonanomi.

Such lawsuits would require more time and money for Public Eye, for example to protect themselves legally. The organization is therefore calling for better protection against such intimidation lawsuits. Greenpeace, Helvetas and the Bruno Manser Fund, among others, have joined this demand.

No more reporting out of fear

The professional association of journalists Imprint is also involved. Its managing director Urs Thalmann fears “that certain reporting will no longer be done because people are simply afraid of ruinous court actions.”

But these topics are very important for informing society, says Thalmann. If the media and non-governmental organizations can no longer report freely, then democracy would ultimately be in danger.

source site-72