'We have to straighten out the press': Trump's plan to sue media critics into submission

Lock up political critics? Donald Trump is open to it. But his prevailing tactic entering his second term is suing the media into submission.

We're not just talking about run-of-the-mill libel lawsuits.

We're talking about Trump now suing an Iowa newspaper for a bad poll. And suing the pollster for consumer fraud. He's suing 60 Minutes for how it edited a video — a video he wasn't even part of. He's demanding $10 billion. He's also suing the Pulitzer Prizes for rewarding newspapers that covered his alleged collusion with Russia.

This after he sued ABC News for claiming he'd been found liable for rape; in fact, he'd been found liable for sexual abuse, but not rape.

A number of media analysts this week expressed shock that ABC's parent company settled the rape-claim case without a trial. The Disney conglomerate paid out $15 million.

One global expert on free speech called this a well-worn playbook used in autocratic countries: To sue, sue and keep suing, regardless of whether lawsuits have merit.

Winning the suit is almost beside the point, said Eric Heinze. What's key is to keep potential critics terrified of offending you, as it could result in ruinous legal fees.

"That's how autocrats work," said Heinze, law professor at the University of London, head of the Centre for Law, Democracy and Society, and author of a book about international lessons learned from free speech.

"Not by telling you how they're going to oppress you, but keeping you unclear about how or whether they will, or when they will. That's the secret of the autocrat. It's not clarity, it's vagueness."

The point of chilling the press, he said, is to make it financially risky for people to say things they know are perfectly legal.

The practice is so widespread it has an acronym: SLAPP, short for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. And it's used in all sorts of places, including in democracies by wealthy plaintiffs.

Cherian George is from a country notorious for the practice: Singapore. He said defamation cases are part of the ruling party's stock response to public debate. 

In one famous case, a now-defunct magazine published an interview with an opposition leader who accused Singapore's government of abusing libel lawsuits to conceal corruption. How did the government respond? By suing the magazine for libel.

A former journalist, George is now an academic who studies free speech and teaches at Hong Kong Baptist University.