Bulgaria's parliament has passed a law protecting journalists from abusive SLAPP lawsuits, according to a report by Euronews. The legislation targets so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation — civil claims filed not to vindicate genuine legal rights, but to burden reporters and media outlets with costly litigation and exhaust their resources.

The law responds to a longstanding problem for Bulgarian media. Wealthy or well-connected plaintiffs have used defamation and similar claims as a pressure tactic against journalists investigating corruption, business interests, and public officials. Such suits impose heavy defence costs regardless of merit, and the threat alone can deter reporting.

What the legislature decided

The Bulgarian National Assembly approved statutory protection that enables journalists targeted by abusive lawsuits to invoke procedural safeguards rather than face ordinary civil litigation on the plaintiff's terms. The reform places Bulgaria among the European jurisdictions moving to codify anti-SLAPP protections at the national level, implementing a direction of travel set at EU level, where institutions have pressed member states to curb litigation abuse against public-interest journalism.

The measure applies to journalists and media actors facing claims whose primary function is to silence or punish reporting on matters of public interest. Its central mechanism is to let courts identify and neutralise suits that qualify as abusive.

Practical consequences for practitioners

For lawyers advising media clients in Bulgaria, the new law changes the risk calculus on both sides of the docket. Defence counsel representing journalists can now raise anti-SLAPP protections early in proceedings, seeking dismissal of qualifying claims and shifting the strategic burden onto plaintiffs who previously faced little downside in filing speculative suits. Lawyers acting for claimants, meanwhile, must now assess far more carefully whether a proposed defamation or damages action could be characterised as abusive, since a suit deemed a SLAPP carries new procedural and cost consequences. In-house counsel at publishers and broadcasters should review pre-publication review protocols and litigation-hold practices in light of the statute. For international media companies operating in Bulgaria, the reform offers a measure of reassurance that local litigation risk now has a statutory check.

Context

The legislation arrives amid sustained European pressure to address SLAPP litigation. Press-freedom organisations have documented hundreds of abusive suits against journalists across the EU in recent years, and EU institutions have urged member states to adopt national frameworks. Bulgaria's adoption of the law marks its formal entry into that group of jurisdictions.

The practical test now lies in enforcement. Practitioners will watch how Bulgarian courts apply the new protections in early cases, and whether judges use the statute to dismiss abusive claims at an early stage or allow plaintiffs to reframe suits to escape the law's scope. Media lawyers in Sofia expect the first appellate rulings under the statute to define its real reach.