Are SLAPP suits really allowed under the law?
Anyone can file a lawsuit. However, because of the danger that SLAPP suits pose to free speech, some states have passed laws to deter companies and others from filing them. Those laws typically require plaintiffs to pay the defendant’s legal fees when a suit is found to be a SLAPP, and halt a case until a court determines whether a lawsuit is frivolous. And one court has specifically ruled that California’s anti-SLAPP statute applies to online speech.
