Industry leaders voice dismay over lack of SLAPPS law
Measure was left out of King's Speech
Media industry leaders have expressed their disappointment after measures to clamp down on the use of lawsuits to silence journalism were left out of the King's Speech.
Last month news media outlets took part in a concerted day of action to highlight the growing use of SLAPPS - strategic lawsuits against public participation.
But hopes that legislation to tackle the issue would be included in yesterday's King's Speech to the State Opening of Parliament were dashed.
There was no mention of it in the 35 Bills which the government proposes to bring forward over the coming year.
Sayra Tekin, general counsel for the News Media Associatio, said in response: "We are disappointed that the government has not used the King’s Speech to take forward its longstanding and widely supported commitment to legislate against SLAPPs.
"A suitable legislative vehicle must now be identified as a matter of priority."
Last month's day of action was held with the express aim of highlighting the issue in the run-up to yesterday's speeech.
Publishers marked the day of action through op-eds and letters to MPs, underlining the particular vulnerability of local and regional newsrooms to costly and time-consuming legal intimidation.
The NMA also called on the government to ensure the Competition and Markets Authority has the tools to ensure a level playing field between publishers and the tech giants.
Sayra said: "The government is right to support effective and timely CMA decision-making, but not at the expense of the regulator’s independence. It must also reaffirm support for robust and rapid implementation of the Digital Markets Unit regime.
"For the government’s competition objectives to be effective, its proposed 'Growth Duty' for regulators must promote long-term, sustainable growth for UK businesses, not short-term gains for dominant platforms.
"Any legislation for AI sandboxes must safeguard the UK's gold standard copyright framework and the value of trusted journalism.”
