Published 23 November 2021 at 13.11
Media. The government's proposal for constitutional changes means in practice that freedom of the press and expression in Sweden is restricted, according to Tidningsutgivarna and the Swedish Journalists' Association.
Like the article p & aring; Facebook
In a debate article in the Althing, TU's CEO Johan Taubert and the Journalists' Association's chairman Ulrika Hyllert criticize Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson's proposal for amendments to the constitution.
The duo states that it is misleading that the bill has been entitled “An effective protection of the freedom of the press and expression” – given that it “in practice mostly entails restrictions on the freedom of the press and expression”.
Among other things, the opportunity for journalists to portray such called and protected objects are stopped.
“And as the Protection Act is formulated, these places can be anything from the Prime Minister's residence and the facade of the County Administrative Board's residence to the lawn inside the fence at the local airport”, write Taubert and Hyllert.
According to the proposed constitutional amendments, information databases/search services with personal data on crime – such as Lexbase – “shall in some respects be prohibited and deprived of their constitutional protection”.
“This means that information Wednesday and search service companies that turn to professional actors should not be covered by constitutional protection and thus can no longer conduct journalistic activities “, write Taubert and Hyllert. :
“From TU, the Swedish Journalists' Association and the media industry, we therefore now flag a clear red constitution card for the proposals and urge all parliamentary parties not to contribute in the further reading to the fact that 'appropriate protection' in fact means further restrictions of freedom of the press and expression. “