Top of page

250 Years of Press Freedom in Sweden

Share this post:

Sweden Press Freedom Act 1766
Kongl. Maj:ts Nådige Förordning, Angående Skrif- och Tryckfriheten; Gifwen Stockholm i Råd-Cammaren then 2. Decembr.1766. [His Royal Majesty’s Gracious Ordinance Relating to Freedom of Writing and of the Press, Delivered at Stockholm in the on December 2, 1766.] Photo by Donna Sokol.
December 2, 2016, marked the 250th anniversary of the first Swedish Freedom of the Press Act, which has been regarded as the world’s first statute related to freedom of the press.

The Act abolished censorship and specifically provided a right for Swedish citizens to access government archives. It was therefore also the first act to establish access to public documents for a country’s citizens. Article 10 of the Act provided that “free access should be allowed to all archives, for the purpose of copying such documents in loco or obtaining certified copies of them.”

The preamble of the Act explicitly refers to its purpose as being:

That, having considered the great advantages that flow to the public from a lawful freedom of writing and of the press, and whereas an unrestricted mutual enlightenment in various useful subjects not only promotes the development and dissemination of sciences and useful crafts but also offers greater opportunities to each of Our loyal subjects to gain improved knowledge and appreciation of a wisely ordered system of government; while this freedom should also be regarded as one of the best means of improving morality and promoting obedience to the laws, when abuses and illegalities are revealed to the public through the press; We have graciously decided that the regulations issued previously on this matter require such appropriate amendment and improvement that all ambiguity, as well as any such coerciveness as is incompatible with their intended purpose, may be removed.  (Translation by Peter Hogg, in The World’s First Freedom of Information Act.)

However, there were still limits to press freedom i