The libel tourism measure would prevent US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign judgments for defamation, inconsistent with the first amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. -SMD
By AFP
WASHINGTON — A key US Senate panel on Tuesday approved a bill to shield US journalists, authors, and publishers from “libel tourists” who file suit in countries where they expect to get the most favorable ruling.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, by voice vote, referred the legislation to the full Senate, where it enjoys broad support from the White House’s Democratic allies and its Republican foes and is likely to pass.
Backers of the bill have cited England, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore as places where weak libel safeguards attract lawsuits that unfairly harm US journalists, writers and publishers.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the committee’s chairman, said that freedom of speech was critical to a healthy democracy and declared: “We’re the only country that totally protects it the way we do.”
Libel tourism “undermines” free speech rights under the US Constitution’s cherished first amendment and harms those who “point out things in totalitarian countries that they don’t want pointed out,” Leahy said before the vote.
“We take seriously the challenge of getting this right, to be respectful of foreign nations, many of whom are allies,” said Senator Jeff Sessions, the panel’s top Republican and a co-author with Leahy of the bill.
The measure would prevent US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the first amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
It would bar foreign parties in such cases from targeting the US assets of an American author, journalist, or publisher as part of any damages.
The US Constitution’s first amendment, backed by a series of US Supreme Court decisions, makes it harder to win a libel suit in the United States relative to many other countries.
Leahy’s office has pointed to Internet publication as a leading cause of a rise in libel lawsuits “regardless of whether the writer or publisher has any significant connections to the foreign forum.”
“The lawsuits are often filed in countries with weak free speech protections, increasing the filer’s chance of prevailing,” it said in a statement when the legislation was unveiled in late June.