Press release: New SLAPPs report warns abusive lawsuits are rising as EU action lags
A new report from the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation finds that the number of SLAPPs – strategic lawsuits against public participation – continues to rise across Europe, even in the face of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP law, which came into force in May 2024 and which countries have until May 2026 to transpose into national law.
A total of 167 new abusive lawsuits were added to CASE’s database in 2024 – an increase from 166 in 2023. Additionally, new cases were identified for previous years, bringing the total number of documented SLAPPs to 1,303 – up from 1,049 the previous year.
Italy recorded the highest number of SLAPPs for the second year in a row (21), followed closely by Germany (20) – reflecting a broader pattern of shrinking civic space in these countries – with Serbia in third place (13). At the same time, the problem continues to spread geographically. SLAPPs were identified in two new countries, Montenegro and Andorra, bringing the total to 43 countries across Europe. The report also finds that the nature of SLAPPs is evolving, moving beyond traditional defamation claims to exploit procedural complexities and circumvent public-interest defences established for freedom of expression.
“This report demonstrates that, despite increased awareness and advocacy, SLAPPs continue to pose a serious and widespread threat to freedom of expression across Europe. The cases documented here show that the problem is not diminishing but becoming more entrenched, often operating beyond public view. These findings underline the urgency for national governments to act decisively, using the evidence in this report to adopt effective safeguards and bring an end to the abusive use of the legal system to silence public-interest voices,” said Daisy Ruddock, CASE Coordinator.
“Journalists and activists across Europe continue to be targeted by domestic and cross-border SLAPPs, exposing a clear gap between political commitments and real protection. Governments must urgently strengthen safeguards to stop the abuse of legal systems and defend the public interest,” said Tina Urso, Chief Operating Officer at The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.
In 2025, a handful of headline-grabbing SLAPP cases thrust these abusive lawsuits into the public eye for the first time, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar case against the BBC and Energy Transfer’s $660 million suit against Greenpeace — met with Greenpeace’s countersuit in the Netherlands, a first test of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP law. Yet such high-profile and cross-border cases are rare. The vast majority (over 90%) are domestic, attract little media attention, and leave victims isolated and vulnerable.
The report’s authors stress that the documented cases represent only the “tip of the iceberg.” Most censorship occurs at the pre-litigation stage, through aggressive legal threat letters and cease-and-desist demands. Moreover, SLAPP targets in some countries continue to face the risk of prison sentences under national criminal defamation laws. This severe chilling effect, combined with the fear of escalation, ensures that many threats and cases never enter the public domain.
As democratic backsliding accelerates across Europe, confronting SLAPPs is essential for safeguarding civic space, independent journalism, and public participation. The EU’s anti-SLAPP law is a crucial step – but its effectiveness depends on prompt and comprehensive national implementation. With just 99 days left to transpose the law into national legislation, we need to see decisive action from governments to ensure the legal system is no longer abused to silence public-interest voices.
NOTES
2024 marked a pivotal legislative development with the adoption of the EU Anti-SLAPP Directive (Directive (EU) 2024/1069) paired with the Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/758, and further reinforced by the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)2. CASE supports this milestone as the first binding framework expressly designed to protect public participation. Nevertheless, significant challenges persist. Experts in the field have pointed out that the Directive offers only minimum harmonisation and confines itself to cross-border civil and commercial cases, leaving the vast majority of SLAPPs that are domestic, the daily battleground of journalists and activists, beyond its immediate reach.
On 1st September 2025, Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) launched the European Anti-SLAPP Monitor, an online platform designed to track the transposition and implementation of European standards on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) at the national level. It shows that the majority of Member States are not on track to meet the deadline.
France, Germany and Italy are the three European Union countries experiencing a worsening environment for civil society, according to a report by CIVICUS which tracks the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression in 198 countries and territories. All three member states were downgraded from “narrowed” to “obstructed” – the third-lowest of five possible categories – putting them on a par with Hungary.
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