"MEPs call for power to tackle 'vexatious lawsuits' targeting journalists", 22 Feb 2018

A group of European MEPs is seeking to turn the tables on companies that they allege are targeting investigative reporters with “abusive” lawsuits and other legal threats as a way to silence critical journalism. Under a new proposal put forward by six MEPs, who called for the creation of a new EU directive to tackle the problem, firms involved in so-called vexatious lawsuits could face financial fines if they pursue abusive behaviour towards journalists.

The MEPs are also proposing that the new EU directive would give investigative journalists and media groups the power to request that “vexatious lawsuits” be expediently dismissed, and would create a fund that would financially support media groups that resist lawsuits that are strictly designed to intimidate them.

...Procedures against such lawsuits - known as SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) - are common in a number of states in the US but are new to Europe. One challenge in drafting anti-SLAPP legislation is determining how to target abusive claims, without denying rights of those seeking legitimate claims.

...One was the lawsuit against this publication, the Guardian, and the BBC by Appleby, the offshore company at the heart of the Paradise Papers investigation...The MEPs expressed intense concern about...SLAPP claims, in Malta... where investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb last October. 

...The MEPs letter is also calling for the creation of a new EU register that would “name and shame” firms that pursue abusive practices.

[Also refers to Appleby]