The Lawfare Against Journalism project was presented at the Future of Journalism Conference, held on 11–12 September 2025 at Cardiff University. The conference, hosted by the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), is one of the most established academic events in journalism studies in Europe, bringing together scholars from across the globe.
Lucia Mesquita presented the study “Silencing the Press: Lawfare as a Tool Against Press Freedom,” marking the first academic presentation of the Lawfare Against Journalism project.
The presentation introduced the project’s conceptual framework, which examines how legal systems are increasingly used to constrain journalism. Moving beyond a narrow focus on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), the research advances the concept of systemic lawfare to capture a broader set of legal mechanisms — civil, criminal, and administrative — that are strategically mobilized to silence or deter journalistic work.
The paper highlighted how these practices operate across different political contexts, from democratic to authoritarian settings, and contribute to what can be understood as a “judicialization of control.” By framing journalism as a form of social harm through legal narratives related to reputation, security, or morality, these mechanisms generate chilling effects that extend beyond individual cases.
The presentation also outlined the project’s empirical approach, which combines media analysis, legal and policy document review, and interdisciplinary scholarship to map and understand the growing use of lawfare against journalists worldwide.
This first academic presentation represents an important step in consolidating the project’s research agenda and engaging with the international scholarly community on the challenges facing press freedom today.
