Buying Silence: How oligarchs, corporations and plutocrats use the law to gag their critics

THE ERA OF WIN AT ALL COSTS, WHETHER LEGAL OR ILLEGAL, IS UPON US. THIS IS THE ERA OF THE SLAPP CASE. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, are designed to intimidate and silence critics of the wealthy and powerful by confronting them with aggressive and rapacious lawyers, massive legal costs, private investigators, PR companies and hackers. Billionaire oligarchs, corporations and those with skeletons in the cupboard are laundering their reputations by suing for libel - even when what's been written about them is true. Their money can overwhelm opponents. Worse still, they compel the media into self-censorship - and freedom of speech and the right to information are the victims. In this timely, insightful and often shocking book, veteran media lawyer David Hooper explores how the power of money enables the super-rich to crush their critics through SLAPPs. Fully updated with a new chapter on how Mohamed Al Fayed and his enablers used the law to cover up his horrific campaign of abuse, Buying Silence explains how those with something to hide try to stop you knowing about it, how their lawyers help them do it and - most importantly - what the government urgently needs to do to stop them.