'Spain: SLAPPs – legal harassment against journalists', 7 December 2021

Journalists and media outlets in Spain are facing multiple lawsuits for exposing corruption, reporting on matters of public concern or covering protests. Known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, public officials, businessmen, politicians or police officers typically initiate these lawsuits. They do so to evade public scrutiny, and to harass or subdue journalists who expose their wrongdoings.

Those who file such suits aim to drain the target’s financial and psychological resources and to chill critical voices. These costly civil lawsuits target journalists, activists, or whistle-blowers, in other words, individuals, who are often ill-equipped to defend themselves. As a result, public debate within Spanish society is under threat...

Key findings from the report reveal:

• Over broad legal provisions in the Spanish Penal Code are open to abuse which limits free expression for all [...]
• People with power target journalists simply for doing their jobs [...]
• Criminal prosecutions and abusive civil lawsuits have implications for the financial sustainability of the media [...]