Press Freedom in New York

New York scores 99 of 100 on the Institute for Free Speech's anti-SLAPP rubric, against a median of 85 across the 51 jurisdictions.

The overall score is two parts coverage to one part protections, as IFS weights them.

What New York actually gives a defendant

The five protections IFS scores. A statute can cover every kind of speech and still leave a defendant paying their own lawyer for two years.

• Case pauses while the motion is heardFull marks: 20 / 20
• Plaintiff must show the case has meritFull marks: 12 / 12
• Denial can be appealed at onceFull marks: 25 / 25
• Winning defendant recovers legal costsFull marks: 40 / 40
• Courts told to read the law broadlyNothing: 0 / 3

New York scores nothing on 1 of the five. That is where a bill amending the statute would have the most to fix.

Incidents logged in New York

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has logged 249 press-freedom incidents in New York since 2014, of which 136 are since January 1, 2021.

• Assault113

  Physical attacks on journalists covering a story

• Arrest/Criminal Charge56

  Journalists arrested or charged while reporting

• Subpoena/Legal Order47

  Legal demands for notes, sources or footage

• Equipment Damage29

  Cameras and gear broken during coverage

• Other Incident23

  Logged, but outside the named categories

• Equipment Search or Seizure13

  Devices taken or searched by authorities

• Denial of Access9

  Shut out of a public meeting, scene or record

• Border Stop7

  Stopped and questioned at a border crossing

• Chilling Statement7

  Officials threatening the press publicly

• Prior Restraint4

  An order not to publish, before publication

• Leak Case1

  Prosecution over leaked material

This is a count, not a score. It tracks where the protests and the newsrooms are as much as where the law is hostile, so a big state will out-count a small one whatever its statute says. An incident can carry more than one category, so the categories sum to more than the total. Nothing here is added to the anti-SLAPP score.

Where this comes from

The grade and the five component scores are the Institute for Free Speech's 2025 Report Card entry for New York. Incident counts are the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, used under CC BY 4.0. Both retrieved September 19, 2026. The score is IFS's own judgement and is not part of the FreedomRankings score.

Anti-SLAPP law is one part of press freedom, not all of it — shield laws, public records law and how New York courts actually rule are not scored here. None of this is legal advice; talk to a lawyer about an actual dispute.