Florida
Grade: C
Florida has an adequate anti-SLAPP law. It was enacted in 2000.
| Jurisdiction | Statute or Case Law? | Any Forum? | Any Public Issue? | Mandatory Attorney Fees/Costs? | Additional Burden? | Amendment After Grant? | Amendment While Pending? | Immediate Appeal? |
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6“Free speech in connection with public issues” means any written or oral statement that is protected under applicable law and is made before a governmental entity in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a governmental entity, or is made in or in connection with a play, movie, television program, radio broadcast, audiovisual work, book, magazine article, musical work, news report, or other similar work.
FLA. STAT. §§ 768.295 (2000) & 720.304 (2000)
Section 768.295 protects peaceful assembly, instructing representatives or petitioning for redress of grievances from lawsuits brought by the government.
Section 720.304 protects statements made by parcel owners about matters concerning their homeowners association.
In October of 2008, the Florida Supreme Court decided in Jews for Jesus, Inc., v. Rapp, 997 So. 2d 1098 (2008) that the tort of false light invasion of privacy would not be available in Florida. The court held that, unlike the claim of defamation which has First Amendment protections built in, the tort of false light has no such protections. Although the court has noted that “one argument often advanced to support the recognition of false light is that, unlike defamation, it allows recovery for literally true statements that create a false impression,” it also noted that the tort of defamation already incorporates the concept that “literally true statements can be defamatory where they create a false impression.” As such, the court concluded that the tort of false light should not be available in Florida. See the amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief opposing the recognition of the tort here.
2015 Update:
Florida SLAPP Stories:
From Phelps Dunbar LLP at Lexology:
"Effective July 1, 2015, Florida will have broader prohibitions against SLAPP suits, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation.” Many states have enacted anti-SLAPP laws to prevent companies and government entities from filing frivolous lawsuits against their critics. For example, when a citizen or consumer posts a negative comment about a governmental program or a company’s services, the entity subject to the criticism may choose to file a defamation or infringement lawsuit against the individual who posted the comment. Such lawsuits have become more prevalent due to the popularity of websites geared towards consumer reviews, such as yelp.com."
Read more from Lexology here.