Victory! California Appeals Court Refuses to Revive Surveillance Tech CEO’s Meritless Lawsuit Against Journalist
A California appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the former CEO of surveillance data company Premise Data against journalist Jack Poulson, who had reported on the CEO's felony domestic violence arrest. The court rejected the attempt to use litigation to suppress the story.
Why this matters: A CEO of a surveillance company tried to use a lawsuit to make a damaging story about himself disappear. That is a textbook SLAPP suit — legal pressure used not to win in court, but to make reporting expensive and risky enough that journalists think twice. It did not work here. But most journalists do not have EFF backing them. The people most likely to weaponize defamation law are also the people with the most to hide and the most money to spend on lawyers.
Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators · Lawyers · Compliance · General readers · Policy
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