Press Freedom in North Dakota
Not protected
against retaliatory lawsuits over what you say
IFS grade
North Dakota has no anti-SLAPP statute. If someone sues you over something you said — a review, a complaint to a regulator, a news story — you defend it the long and expensive way, however baseless the claim. 10 of 51 jurisdictions are in the same position.
How much of what you say the statute reaches
What it actually does once it applies
The overall score is two parts coverage to one part protections, as IFS weights them.
What North Dakota 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 heardNothing: 0 / 20
- Plaintiff must show the case has meritNothing: 0 / 12
- Denial can be appealed at onceNothing: 0 / 25
- Winning defendant recovers legal costsNothing: 0 / 40
- Courts told to read the law broadlyNothing: 0 / 3
Incidents logged in North Dakota
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has logged 16 press-freedom incidents in North Dakota since 2014, of which 6 are since January 1, 2021.
- Arrest/Criminal Charge8
Journalists arrested or charged while reporting
- Equipment Search or Seizure7
Devices taken or searched by authorities
- Assault5
Physical attacks on journalists covering a story
- Equipment Damage3
Cameras and gear broken during coverage
- Subpoena/Legal Order3
Legal demands for notes, sources or footage
- Other Incident1
Logged, but outside the named categories
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 North Dakota. 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 North Dakota courts actually rule are not scored here. None of this is legal advice; talk to a lawyer about an actual dispute.