Date: 27 October 2023
Time: 8:30am to 12:30pm
Location: The Pavilion, Westin Dragonara Resort, St Julian’s, Malta
A conference organised by The Shift with the support of the Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ). It is part of a campaign to increase awareness about the use of SLAPPs and other legal methods to harass and intimidate journalists. This type of harassment directly impacts journalists and the information they provide to the public.
The conference will bring together Maltese and international legal professionals, members from press freedom organisations and the media community. This will allow for a multi-faceted and in-depth discussion about the evolving legal tools used against journalists and the impact that these have.
The conference has two interlinked objectives: to inform the public and media community about identifying forms of legal harassment and to create a support network by sharing resources and solutions. The panellists bring together a broad range of experience and expertise that will be discussed over the course of two sessions.
The first panel will debate the evolving nature and definitions of SLAPPs while the second will look at the impact SLAPPs have on the day-to-day work of journalists and the tools being created to fight back. The discussion will also review the legislative changes at EU level and whether these are enough to safeguard journalists from legal harassment.