How does a SLAPP affect someone personally? How is the phenomenon of SLAPP experienced? On this page you will find some testimonials from people who have experienced or witnessed it from afar or up close.

Karl van den Broeck, editor-in-chief of the investigative journalism platform Apache.be (vub.be, 15 january 2025)

At first, I was a bit cynical about it: the more complaints, the more attention for Apache, and the more readers we’d gain. Against our will, we were cast as a kind of Robin Hood figure. But the novelty wore off quickly. It’s incredibly intimidating because you’re personally summoned to court. At one point, a bailiff came to my home. Thankfully, we had professional liability insurance, two brilliant lawyers, and a benefit event organised by Wouter Deprez to help us stay afloat financially. The real emotional toll came after the final acquittal. Only then did I realise how close we had come to losing everything.
What angers me most is that the accusations against us never entirely go away. A portion of the public still believes there must have been some truth to them—that we’re a ‘defamatory outlet’. You also end up sidelined. People who used to chat with me at events started avoiding me. Some even asked me not to like their posts on LinkedIn.