In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of asymmetric warfare”. Today it says “use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of asymmetric warfare”. Today it says “use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
Lawfare (disambiguation) . Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs, as a more peaceful and rational alternative, or as a less benign adjunct, to warfare . Detractors have alternately begun to define the phrase as, "An attempt to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual's usage of their legal rights". The term may refer to the use of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, wasting their time and money (e.g., strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPP), or winning a public relations victory. Alternatively, it may describe a tactic used by repressive regimes to label and discourage civil society or individuals from claiming their legal rights via national or international legal systems. This is especially common in situations when individuals and civil society use nonviolent methods to highlight or oppose discrimination , persecution , corruption , lack of democracy , limiting freedom of speech , violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law ." Since the early 2000s, the use of legal mechanisms in conflict contexts has drawn significant international attention. During this period, particularly in the context of the U.S.-led " War on Terror " both the United States and Israel have characterized legal challenges to their military operations as a form of lawfare—a term used to describe the perceived exploitation of legal systems to achieve political or ideological objectives. Critics argue that this framing delegitimizes the legal efforts of less powerful actors who seek accountability through international institutions. Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1298166559.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Lawfare is a form of asymmetric warfare . Lawfare is waged via the use of domestic or international law with the intention of damaging an opponent. Examples include winning a public relations victory, financially crippling an opponent, or tying up the opponent's time so that they cannot pursue other ventures such as run for public office. Lawfare is one of several alternative war-making concepts outlined in the 1999 Chinese book Unrestricted Warfare , which is principally concerned with the new variety of offensive actions available to an international actor that cannot confront another power militarily.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 366138694.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Lawfare is a recently coined word not yet appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary , a portmanteau of the words law and warfare , said to describe a form of asymmetric warfare .Lawfare is asserted by some to be the illegitimate use of domestic or international law with the intention of damaging an opponent, winning a public relations victory, financially crippling an opponent, or tying up the opponent's time so that they cannot pursue other ventures such as running for public office, similar to a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) lawsuit .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663497973.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Lawfare is the misuse of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, tying up their time or winning a public relations victory.The term is a portmanteau of the words law and warfare .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963688817.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Weaponizing jurisdiction For other uses, see Lawfare (disambiguation) .Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter individual's usage of their legal rights.The term may refer to the use of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, wasting their time and money (e.g.SLAPP suits ), or winning a public relations victory.Alternatively, it may describe a tactic used by repressive regimes to label and discourage civil society or individuals from claiming their legal rights via national or international legal systems.This is especially common in situations when individuals and civil society use non-violent methods to highlight or oppose discrimination , corruption , lack of democracy , limiting freedom of speech , violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174260423.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of asymmetric warfare”. Today it says “use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
terror
0
0
0
0
1
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 2025.
Then
form of asymmetric warfare
Now
use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
