![Cover for: Fighting the laws that are silencing journalists](https://www.eurozine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/8b51dcef8c8aba03b8c27712dd938365.jpg)
Slapps – or strategic lawsuits against public participation – are a type of legal action undertaken not to be won but to intimidate defendants into silence or inaction. A report by Index on Censorship calls for measures, including an anti-Slapp directive, to be put in place to protect journalists from vexatious legal threats and actions.