Written threats and legal proceedings taking their toll: The psychological dimension of SLAPPs
As the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE) states in its 2023 report update: “in addition to the financial dimension, the psychological dimension is one of the central aspects of the vulnerability of those affected by SLAPPs”.
Being legally prosecuted is not only costly, it also represents a psychological burden in various ways. Those affected are usually afraid of the concrete risks of legal proceedings and find it difficult to deal with the tension caused by the proceedings and the perceived risk of exposure. a powerful spur to the effectiveness of intimidation attempts if those affected do not find an adequate way of dealing with them.
Influencer Levi Penell currently provides a insight into the feelings that legal action can trigger in the context of publicly expressed criticism. Penell published videos on his TikTok channel that depicted a company's business model as a pyramid scheme. A person associated with the company then seems to havey instructed a law firm to send Penell a warning letter in connection with this.
Penell then explained in another video shared on social media the impact these threats had had on him emotionally. He talks about being overwhelmed and anxious in the face of the high sums demanded and the lack of legal and financial security, and off a lack of desire, strength and time to counter the accusations comprehensively and with legal protection in a potentially lengthy process. And the feeling of powerlessness in the face of a seemingly overpowering opponent and a conflict that appears to be less about a substantive discussion than about intimidation - and the associated desire for more justice.
The feelings described by Penell match the reactions to attempts at legal intimidation known from other contexts. At the same time, the influencer handles the warning in an exemplary manner: Instead of withdrawing from the public with his criticism, he publicly addresses the legal action against him. And seeks legal advice accordingly, as he reports in an update video. Competent legal advice and self-confident assertion of publicly expressed criticism are two elementary components in adequately countering legal action and mitigating intimidating dynamics. Accordingly, Penell can appear much more relaxed in his second video on the matter, saying that everything seems much less bad to him than initially assumed and that he has hope for a good outcome.
Overall, all of this depends very much on the individual circumstances - and has hardly been researched. Comprehensive surveys have yet to be carried out, which would generally enable a more differentiated understanding of the psychological and social factors involved through interviews with affected individuals and other evaluations of the emotional dimension of legal proceedings in the context of publicly expressed criticism.
In any case, we support all persons who are legally prosecuted or threatened with legal action in connection with publicly expressed fact-based criticism in the context of our work with the No SLAPP contact points. We register and monitor all such cases, regardless of whether they are SLAPPs by strict definition. As soon as there are indications of possible intimidation, those affected can contact the contact point. We not only try to provide concrete legal and financial support. By documenting such cases, we hope that in the long term we can also help to better clarify the socio-psychological component of intimidation through legal proceedings and then develop effective approaches to counteract it.