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.