MEPs Roberta Metsola and David Casa have called on Vice President of the European Commission Věra Jourová to introduce measures that will remove the abusive practice of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
Casa said that together with another 30 MEPs from across the political groups in the European Parliament, David Casa urged the Commissioner for EU Values and Transparency to introduce these measures in order to protect the work and freedom of journalists in their line of work, as well as offer adequate legal protection for activists, human right defenders, academics and trade unionists. This initiative was led by the Media Working Group, which is a group of Members focusing on pushing issues related to the protection of journalists. MEP Casa forms part of this group.
European Parliament Quaestor David Casa explained that these measures were particularly important for Malta, given the fact that these lawsuits are often used to silence Government critics, media houses and others. Assassinated Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had 47 vexatious lawsuits filed against her at the time of her death, many of which had to be shouldered by her family.
In a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 18 December 2019, it had been noted that in Malta, journalists, and in particular investigative journalists, but not exclusively, were increasingly facing such lawsuits against them, intended purely to hinder their work and silence them.
Moreover, the letter goes on to explain, the EU response to these tactics should include a revamp of the Brussels I and Rome II Regulations, in order to address jurisdiction rules and end the possibility of forum shopping across the Union.
Silencing public debate and watchdogs is detrimental to a democratic state and a democratic Union. At a time of increasing pressure over free and independent media, an effective European answer is imperative to solving this problem, concluded MEP Casa.