United States lawmakers have passed legislation countering the threat to freedom of speech posed by ‘libel tourists’ who use the UK’s tough libel laws to take action over articles primarily published in the US.

The SPEECH Act – Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act – has been approved by the House of Representatives and will now be signed into law by President Obama in the next 30 days.

UK pressure group Index on Censorship said the SPEECH Act should provide more impetus for proposals to reform UK libel laws.