Javier Bardem and Yasmin Finney star in SLAPP Suit that highlights the dangers of corporate intimidation

Released globally by Greenpeace International, “SLAPP Suit” dramatises the tactics employed by some billionaires and corporations, particularly in reference to the oil industry, to stifle dissent. 

Billionaires and corporate polluters in some cases are using Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) as a weapon to intimidate and silence activists, journalists, and non-profit organisations. These lawsuits burden individuals with excessive legal fees and drain their resources, effectively discouraging public dissent. The film reveals how the US-based fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer has been engaged in relentless SLAPP lawsuits against Greenpeace, aiming to undermine free speech, erase Indigenous leadership, and suppress peaceful protest movements, particularly those opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Javier Bardem remarked on the film's significance: “I made this film with Greenpeace because they're fighting a monumental legal battle about free speech, but really it's about something much bigger: widespread attempts to silence activism. The type of lawsuits used by pipeline company Energy Transfer are also being used to silence journalists, artists and ordinary people who care about their communities. The question is not why to speak out. But how could we not, if we want to have the same freedom in the future?”

The implications of SLAPP lawsuits extend beyond Greenpeace, as corporate intimidation tactics pose a grave threat to civil rights and public protest. As Yasmin Finney pointed out, “The right to protest in the UK is a huge battle. People demanding better is what built our country, but increasingly it's becoming criminalised. Not enough people believe or see that our rights are really under threat, and that's why we made this film: Greenpeace's legal fight against Energy Transfer is one example of resistance, but there are many more. Bullies respond to strength and togetherness, and that's what we need more of right now.”

In recent years, major oil corporations like Shell, Total, and ENI have also launched SLAPP lawsuits against Greenpeace, although some of these cases have been successfully halted. Currently, Greenpeace entities in the US continue their legal battle against Energy Transfer's US$345 million lawsuit judgement in North Dakota. Meanwhile, Greenpeace International is pursuing a landmark anti-SLAPP case in the Netherlands aimed at holding Energy Transfer accountable under Dutch law and the EU’s new anti-SLAPP directive.

Susannah Compton, Head of Programme – Civic Resistance and Freedoms at Greenpeace International, emphasised the importance of standing against these tactics: “The global threat of corporate intimidation tactics such as SLAPP lawsuits is an existential crisis for freedom of speech and protest for everyone who dares speak out against the powerful - whether Greenpeace would agree with them or not. If we do not defend our right to resist, we surrender the future to a few oligarchs who see power as a tool for empire rather than a shared responsibility”