Professionals urge UK government to end super-rich attacks on free speech

A coalition of professionals – including media and legal experts – is urging the UK government to challenge the rich and powerful’s war on free speech. In an open letter calling for action, its members warned that democracy cannot survive under the current conditions.

This is an important intervention. Because the need to defend free speech has rarely been more urgent.

Democracy under attack

Professionals from multiple fields signed the 28 January letter, which says:

wealthy and powerful claimants have misused the British justice system and the costs associated with participating in pre-trial and court proceedings to stifle protected speech and public participation … democracy cannot be sustained without everyone being able to express themselves, challenge wrongdoing, or inform others.

They also insist that the right to free speech is critical for a functioning democracy.

It is the Government’s duty to protect us from this system being weaponised against free expression

Wealthy parties use ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’ (SLAPPs) as a tool to silence ordinary people who speak out via “costly, stressful and unpredictable legal action”.

The Canary itself has faced such attacks. And we absolutely agree with the signatories that SLAPPs seriously undermine journalistic efforts to give people the full picture about who has power in our society and how they often harness that power against the rest of us.

The letter to prime minister Keir Starmer calls on him to add into the 2026 King’s Speech measures through which parliament can:

establish robust, accessible and universal protections against abusive legal threats and actions.

The rich escape scrutiny

The professionals explain in their letter the impact these legal attacks have on people without the resources to fight back – namely most of us. They say that:

SLAPPs actively prevent a level playing field between those with deep pockets and those for whom affording to mount a defence can draw vital funds away from their families and businesses. The financial inequality so frequently at the heart of SLAPPs can force targets to choose between realising their fundamental rights and economic security. This must end.

From our own experience, wealthy and unscrupulous political donors can discourage publication of articles about them too easily by threatening legal action. We strongly suggest that readers familiarise themselves well with the people and organisations that fund our high–profile politicians, though.

Unfortunately, this situation has long been the case. In fact, it’s probably been a key factor in ensuring the super-rich treat our political system as a plaything to protect their grubby interests. Moreover, free speech continues to be threatened by these persistent legal challenges.

Back in 2012, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism was discussing how:

British libel laws help rich villains escape the scrutiny of the press

They continued to say that the British legal system is:

exploited by the wealthy and powerful to censor the truth.

These issues are also highlighted by OpenDemocracy, stating that journalists are:

threatened with seven-figure legal fees, so we preemptively avoid any discussion of oligarchs known to be litigious.

Even the risk of legal action is enough to force self-censorship. As it admitted:

Just the prospect of dealing with Britain’s ruinously expensive lawyers was enough to make a cash-strapped media organisation back down.

This way, it said, the rich and powerful:

suppress scrutiny on an industrial scale

And it rightly asked:

how many oligarchs successfully slipped into the upper reaches of the establishment because Google revealed nothing bad about them when they offered a political donation

In short, there’s a good reason many have called the UK the “Libel Capital of the World”. Because the global rich and powerful know we have a system that serves them well. Therefore, defending free speech is about upholding accountability.

This is a fight we must all support!

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported in 2023 on how extreme wealth can protect the most powerful people from “legitimate scrutiny”, and how:

mounting a defence is so expensive that it creates an inherent imbalance of power

The new open letter demanding change is very important. And if we think democracy is worth fighting for, then we absolutely need to support the campaign against SLAPPs. In summary, the right to free speech remains under threat and it is vital that it be defended robustly. We just think it’ll be a tough, uphill struggle considering how much our political class is in the pockets of the rich and powerful.

Featured image via the Canary