South Dakota is one of only 12 states with no law protecting residents against meritless, speech-suppressing lawsuits, putting their rights to speak or publish at "significant risk," according to a new report by the Institute for Free Speech .

That's one takeaway from the 2025 Anti-SLAPP Report Card , which rates state-by-state legal protections against a type of lawsuit known as a “SLAPP,” an acronym that stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation." The term refers to lawsuits that lack any true legal claim and are brought by individuals or entities to "dissuade their critics from continuing to produce negative publicity," according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute .

The Institute for Free Speech said in a news release that such lawsuits typica

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