§ 85.005.Defense

One sentence, and it is a First Amendment safeguard.

It is a defence that the defendant was engaged in conduct that consisted of activity in support of constitutionally or statutorily protected rights.

The definition of harassing behaviour is broad — conduct reasonably likely to annoy or embarrass the claimant — and a great deal of protected activity is reasonably likely to do exactly that.

Picketing, protesting, investigative journalism, and organised political pressure are all directed at specific people and intended to be uncomfortable. Without this defence, the chapter would supply a route to suppress them.

The defence reaches statutory rights as well as constitutional ones, which covers protected labour activity and other conduct authorised by legislation.

The overlap with the TCPA is worth noting. A stalking claim aimed at protected expression is a legal action based on the exercise of free speech or the right to associate, and the anti-SLAPP motion — with its 60-day deadline, discovery stay, and mandatory fees — will often be the faster route to the same result.

Between the two, conduct in support of protected rights faces both a defence at trial and an early dismissal mechanism.