Legal threats to silence activists

It is becoming increasingly common in Australia for people who are speaking
out about an issue to receive direct or indirect threats of legal action. These
threats could be a letter from a corporation threatening to sue for defamation
or from a legal firm threatening some form of legal action.
See: Responding to legal threats below.

People who have written letters to their local paper about a development
project, published books or produced reports, leaflets or posters, or made
public statements, have received legal threats. The authors of books,
websites and even student theses can be targeted. Corporations with
massive resources will often respond to criticism by issuing legal threats
against volunteer community groups or individuals.

In the United States these types of legal threats have been called
“SLAPPs” (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) as they are
designed to deliberately hinder or discourage public campaigning.

According to Free Speech Victoria , ”The most insidious form of
censorship that is widely practised in Australia today is the use and
abuse of the defamation laws and the threat of libel actions.”

Legal threats, even if they do not have much prospect of ever making it
to court, can deter people participating on an issue, they can have a ‘chill
effect' on other people getting involved and can tie campaigns up in costly
legal advice and proceedings. Some industry groups and governments will
press for repressive laws or use the threat of claims for damages, inquiries
or existing regulations in an attempt to stifle direct action protests.

Most legal threats are just threats in the forms of official letters or
public statements. They commonly use the law of defamation or refer to
the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) as a part of the threat. Only a tiny
percentage of legal threats ever go to court and there are also plenty of
cases of a legal threat backfiring on a company by increasing the profile
of a campaign and building support for the activists.

The structure of an organisation can help determine its exposure to
civil liability (being sued). Go to Legal structures for activist organisations
for information about how best to structure your organisation.

Responding to legal threats
There are a series of steps activist groups can take to deter or respond
to such threats. For detailed information:

Download a copy of “How to Face Legal Threats: A Resource Kit for Activists” which can be found at Environment Defenders Office Victoria via www.edo.org.au .

The Communications Law Centre (CLC) is an independent, non-profit, public interest organisation specialising in media, communications and online law and policy. The centre conducts research, teaching, public education and legal advice.
http://www.comslaw.org.au

Another useful guide is Be Careful – Not Silent: A Bush Lawyer's Guide to Avoiding and Surviving Defamation Claims A Guide for Community
Political Activists by Dr Greg Ogle.

One of the best websites for support and information is the Suppression of
Dissent site which can be found at:
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/
This site contains an interesting article on Defamation and Free Speech.

Get a copy of the ABC Media Handbook (from your local ABC Store).
This is the best, most easily understandable guide to defamation law.

The Parliament Of Australia website has a detailed list of Communications
Law at: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/commslaw.htm#legislation

Go to Legal structures for activist organisations for information about how
best to structure your organisation.