This Book review has been written by Sakkcham Singh Parmaar. He is a law student at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University.
ABSTRACT
Discussing the way in which corporate and political elites exploit and corrupt the justice system to exaggerate and exacerbate oppression and curtail freedom of the press, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful (2025) by David Enrich presents a perceptive insight into the inner workings of a system that simply is not being honest with itself. New York Times, Using the Sullivan (1964) decision that introduced the actual malice standard in defamation law, Enrich demonstrates how a continuing onslaught by conservatives has aimed at overturning this judgement, and illustrates the consequences this has on democracy. Using case studies such as the repeated arguments given by Donald Trump to ease up on the law of libel and the secretly funded lawsuit against Gawker Media spearheaded by Peter Thiel, Enrich shows how libel cases gained a new role as a source of intimidation over their ability to provide justice. The book puts these developments in the context of the conservative legal movement as a whole and the generation and influence of weaponized litigation on investigative journalism. It is worth noting that an international comparison with India reveals that criminal defamation is a global issue that needs to be fought against because these laws create an atmosphere of fear, censorship and inordinate authoritarianism. Finally, Enrich cautions that repealing Sullivan would be disastrous to democratic accountability where self-regulation of the press through media oversight will completely overlap into the drive to create a culture of law mongering and censorship. His contribution can therefore be understood as both a historical and a practical alert urgently needed to protect press freedom as an essential part of democratic societies all over the world.
“It is much more about trying to get the media and other public critics to pull punches or to shut up altogether when powerful people’s interests are on the line.”
Through an incisive examination of the growing legal and political machinery that has been brought to bear against press freedom in the United States, David Enrich’s Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful (2025) is highly relevant as it shows the organized efforts of powerful individuals and organizations to dismantle the precedent established by the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), This set the “actual malice” standard for defamation cases involving public figures. By analyzing the potential consequences of such movements, Enrich elucidates the ominous position of the media and gives a battle cry for the protection of democracy’s very essence.
