Protect the Protest, an international task force of over 20 organizations working to protect free speech, is calling on the U.N. Human Rights Committee to address the growing trend of corporations and individuals in the United States using Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to silence free speech.

The task force filed a recommendation on Monday, January 14, with the committee, a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The committee is beginning its periodic review of U.S. compliance with the ICCPR in March 2019 and will first send the U.S. a list of issues to form the basis for the U.S. report to the committee. The task force is asking the committee to includes its recommendation in the list of issues.

“In recent years, there has been discernible growth in the targeted strategy of corporations and wealthy individuals using civil lawsuits to manipulate the legal process and shut down free speech by harassing and draining the resources of the people targeted,” said Charlie Holt, legal counsel at Greenpeace International...