Case Study: Building Resilience Against Legal Threats: Experiences from Media Outlets in Poland, Hungary, and Italy

Media outlets across Europe have been battling intensifying legal threats from powerful politicians and businesspeople seeking to silence journalists and avoid accountability. In response to these pressures, more organizations across Europe are calling for reforms to address the blind spots and loopholes that enable abusive legal tactics. The experiences of media outlets in Poland, Hungary, and Italy showcase how support networks and other safety nets can help mount stronger defenses against SLAPPs and similar abuses.

Increasing resources to equip outlets and journalists with safety nets

In Poland, Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Initiative started providing grants for independent investigative journalists across the country in 2021. The program is designed to support the kind of long-term investigations that are costly in both time and resources, and includes funding for grantees in case of legal threats. “Journalists, particularly in small towns, are simply afraid to dig in and do investigative work, because they know they can be legally harassed or face court cases. Part of our work here is also to tell them that if you need legal support, we will also help you with that,” said Miłosz Wiatrowski, who helped to organize the initiative. At times, some outlets have decided not to publish investigations, fearing damaging repercussions. “In those cases, we are also providing support by using our network to find an outlet that will publish it,” said Wiatrowski.1

Pro bono legal aid provided by organizations such as Poland’s Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union can be critical for media outlets unable to afford an in-house lawyer. Legal support is not only crucial after a lawsuit lands: legal vetting prior to publication can also provide more certainty about the outlet’s ability to defend itself once a piece does run. This thorough approach is what gives András Pethő of Direkt36 in Hungary more confidence in winning any case that might be brought against their outlet: “We are rarely sued, because we are very careful. And we always make sure that we are okay to publish, especially if it is something legally sensitive.”2

However, even when outlets are confident about their ability to win a case, they can still face costly retaliatory lawsuits. Legal defense funds managed by global networks can be a lifeline. In November 2022, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) launched the “OCCRP SLAPPs Back” campaign to raise money for a legal defense fund to provide relief to outlets and journalists in its global network, which include Direkt36 and Átlátszó in Hungary and IrpiMedia in Italy.3 As part of an emerging international response with OCCRP and partners, a newly launched membership program called Reporters Shield is inviting eligible outlets to join and receive accessible legal defense.4

Forging collaborations and joining networks of support

For investigative outlets wanting to pursue sensitive and complex investigations, international collaborations have provided crucial platforms to support and amplify their work. Direkt36 was part of the international investigation led by Forbidden Stories that exposed the use of Pegasus spyware to target Hungarian media, lawyers, and politicians in 2021:5 “Because of its sensitivity, the story required technical, security, editorial, and legal support. It was something that we certainly would not have been able to pull off ourselves,” said András Pethő.

As outlets increasingly face similar challenges, international networks also give them more visibility and opens doors to larger networks of support. For Cecilia Anesi of the Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI), “being part of these kinds of collaborations is very qualifying and good for a center like IRPI for two reasons. Of course, we have the chance of doing better reporting and collaborating with colleagues. But also, whenever something bad happens, you are not alone.” Alerts and advocacy support from international organizations can also put a spotlight on abuses, as Tamás Bodoky of Átlátszó explained: “There is an international safety net, which will take my complaint and publish it. I think that is very important because that is something the Hungarian state is aware of, and they do not want this type of attention in the international press.”6

On the other hand, domestic awareness and support is not always well developed. In winter 2022, IRPI launched a small campaign to raise public awareness about SLAPPS in Italy and encourage donations from individuals to support their cause. “I think that we could work more on building an internal network within our country of different NGOs and different media centers for better awareness. Also, to really help out all the freelancers who do not have any support,” said Anesi.

Toward broader coalitions for change in Europe

Media-sector activism and network formation to protect against damaging lawsuits have united organizations across Europe—not just in supporting journalists, but also in exposing the magnitude of the threat and advocating for meaningful reform.7 In April 2022, the European Commission’s proposed “anti-SLAPP” directive signaled a first step toward a stronger set of rules to address cross-border SLAPP cases, with recommendations for member states to review their own laws for domestic cases.8

• 1Interview with Piotr Stasiński, Miłosz Wiatrowski and Jakub Kibitlewski at Gazeta Wyborzca, January 24, 2023.
• 2Interview with András Pethő, co-founder and director of Direkt36, January 13, 2023.
• 3“Battling 41 “SLAPP” Cases, OCCRP Network Launches In-House Legal Defense Fund”, OCCRP, February 11, 2022, https://www.occrp.org/en/announcements/17018-battling-41-slapp-cases-oc…
• 4““Reporters Shield” Launches on World Press Freedom Day,” OCCRP, May 3, 2023, https://www.occrp.org/en/announcements/40-presss-releases/17582-reporte….
• 5Panyi Szabolcs, Pethő András, “Hungarian journalists and critics of Orbán were targeted with Pegasus, a powerful Israeli cyberweapon,” Direkt36, July 19, 2021, https://www.direkt36.hu/en/leleplezodott-egy-durva-izraeli-kemfegyver-a….
• 6Interview with Tamás Bodoky, editor in chief of Átlátszó, February 8, 2023.
• 7“Coalition aims to outlaw SLAPPs in Europe,” ECPMF, April 9, 2021, https://www.ecpmf.eu/coalition-aims-to-outlaw-slapps-in-europe/.
• 8“Commission tackles abusive lawsuits against journalists and human rights defenders ‘SLAPPs',” European Commission, April 27, 2022, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_2652.