Recently, there have been several developments in free speech protections in the United States and the United Kingdom. In a case of first impression in the U.S., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals extended First Amendment freedom of speech protections from traditional media outlets to individual bloggers. Meanwhile, both the U.S. and the U.K. have adopted more speech protections to prevent plaintiffs seeking out favorable international venues for defamation actions (so-called “Libel Tourists”), with the U.S., through its SPEECH Act, refusing to recognize foreign judgments unless the foreign law provides at least as much protection of speech as U.S. law.
