Freedom of expression and freedom of the media

Participants recognised that the overall situation concerning freedom of the media was good in Sweden, as reflected by many global statistics. Participants expressed concern over a possible change of stance by the Swedish authorities with regard to freedom of the media, including the guarantees offered to the public service broadcaster. It was explained that Sweden had the oldest law on freedom of the press in the world, and that such a consolidated tradition made it difficult to limit such freedoms, including media freedoms. It was also explained that an independent Media Ombudsman had the mandate to protect all types of press and broadcast media from interference.

The authorities gave information on an upcoming project to support funding of media outlets. Participants noted that the spread of disinformation was worrying, and that the authorities' proposal to limit public funding and only support media outlets that do not produce fake news could be misused. Participants felt that this proposal would breach the media freedom act, which stated that the authoritiesshould not influence the media.

Participants felt that access to information in Sweden was generally very good. Nevertheless, some cases of various authorities restricting free access to public records during the COVID-19 crisis were mentioned. Such restrictions were publicly criticised by CSOs, and a special investigation considered that these restrictions had been inappropriate.

Regarding the safety of journalists, participants believed that threats against journalists were very worrying in Sweden. They believed that the Swedish judiciary lacked experience in this domain, which has been harmful to the victims. Participants also noted that the protection of exiled journalists was volatile in Sweden.