A Win for Free Speech

It’s almost mid-July, and our state budget is late. Frankly, it’s hard to see the end of budget negotiations in sight. Taxpayers wait on the edge of their seat to see the price tag associated with the back-and-forth discussions in Harrisburg. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Since January of 2023, this legislative session has provided endless political drama with a lack of substantive policy wins. While we eagerly await consensus around our commonwealth’s general appropriations, the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, have found consensus around one thing: free speech protections. We’d be remiss not to celebrate this significant win!

House Bill 1466, or anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) legislation, did the unthinkable this session: it passed both chambers with unanimous support. In a divided government, this is hard to come by. Both parties and chambers put their differences aside on behalf of one important interest group: constituents and taxpayers across all 67 counties. Now, the House will take up this legislation on concurrence, and it heads to Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk for a signature.

What does this momentous bipartisan legislation do? It protects YOU, the private Pennsylvania citizen, from legal action in response to protected free speech on public platforms. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) are complaints filed to intimidate individuals and deter them from speaking out in public forums. The threat of legal action as a means of preventing free speech has been used to silence whistleblowers, journalists, and political protestors. SLAPPs target citizens for their free speech on issues of public concern. They are a form of cancel culture – they weaponize the legal system to penalize protest and silence free speech. Thanks to the General Assembly in Harrisburg, we’re one step closer to ensuring this protected right to free speech.

But what does this look like in practice? Say you’re out to dinner in the city to check out a new restaurant. The service was lackluster. You take to Yelp or Google Reviews to provide feedback. Before anti-SLAPP protections, restaurants could take legal action for defamation.

Even worse, SLAPP suits have been used as a measure to prevent victims of assault from speaking out and sharing their stories. SLAPP suits are a means of silencing the voices of smaller parties to protect larger entities. Now, thanks to Harrisburg, your voice and your message is protected from frivolous lawsuits.

This is a tremendous policy win and a bright spot on an otherwise long and drawn out budget process. While we await final appropriations numbers, take a moment to thank your member for UNANIMOUSLY passing free speech protections that guarantee your voice will be heard.

This is Emily Greene, Deputy State Director with Americans for Prosperity-PA.