SLAPP are Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.

These are lawsuits that are designed to intimidate, censor, silence and harass critics or opponents. Typical defendants are academics, political activists and commentators, human rights defenders, advocacy groups, freelance reporters, and community members.

Anyone who expresses their opinion on social media is a potential victim of SLAPP, thereby infringing on freedom of expression and freedom of association.

In order to make this burdensome (financially and emotionally) on the defendants, the plaintiff with their deep pockets would file multiple SLAPPs at locations far away from the defendant. Moreover, the plaintiff would find creative/cruel ways to drag out cases in the courts. This serves as a punishment for the defendant and threat to other parties from engaging further in the criticism directed towards the plaintiff.

It's akin to a battle of David vs. Goliath, where the defendant often lacks the resources to adequately defend themselves against powerful plaintiffs.

Examples:

  • A journalist investigating fraud by a company could be SLAPP'ed to end the reporting and intimidate other reporters.
  • Activists could be SLAPP'ed to stop their advocacy around certain humanitarian issues.

Therefore SLAPP is legal bullying.