A separate freedom of expression council should be established in Norway. It is one of several recommendations in a report from the Freedom of Expression Commission, which was presented on Monday afternoon. – It cannot be that we have to set up a commission every twenty years, said leader Kjersti Løken Stavrum when the report was presented. The commission was set up in February 2020. The members were to reflect the diversity of Norwegian society. – Freedom of expression has very good conditions in Norway today, said Stavrum in the presentation. More punishment and more bans are also not the solution to improve the situation, the commission believes. There are 90 main findings in the report, which is unanimous. Reminder of the importance of freedom of expression The report could not have come at a better time, believes Culture and Equality Minister Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap). – Helga’s attack on Salman Rushdie gave us a heartbreaking picture of how important freedom of expression can be, she said after being handed the report. The report is also a reminder of the importance of freedom of expression: – The status of freedom of expression concerns us all, says Trettebergstuen. Want to change the law One of the proposals for the commission is to change section 185 of the Criminal Code. It deals with hate speech, and is often called the “racism clause”. It took a long time before the members were able to agree, according to leader Kjersti Løken Stavrum: – We spent a lot of time on it. There was great disagreement in the group. But eventually we came up with two proposals for how this paragraph can be reformulated. The commission nevertheless agrees that the section must remain, but wants to make it more understandable. Background to the report The commission’s task was to look at how freedom of expression is in Norway today. Two and a half years later, they have handed over the report to Minister of Culture and Equality Anette Trettebergstuen (Ap). They were also to come up with suggestions on how it could be strengthened. To begin with, there were 18 members in the commission, but it shrunk to 17 when Begard Reza resigned last summer. She is the general secretary of Salam, the organization for LGBT+ people with a Muslim background. –– I believe the commission is involved in laundering some of the crudest methods of the new, radical right. The commission itself contributes to what it is set to counteract, Reza wrote in his justification, which was published in VG. The members of the Freedom of Expression Commission 2022 Kjersti Løken Stavrum, managing director. in Stiftelsen Tinius og Blommenholm Industrier, Oslo (leader) Ragna Aarli, professor of jurisprudence at the Faculty of Law in Bergen, Bergen Magdi Omar Ytreeide Abdelmaguid, musician, Oslo Eirin Eikefjord, journalist, Bergen Anki Gerhardsen, freelance journalist and critic, Bodø Nils Johan Heatta , head of department at Sami University, Kautokeino Bente Kalsnes, associate professor at Kristiania University College, Oslo Sebastian Klein, educational director at the Falstad Centre, Trondheim Adele Matheson Mestad, director of the Norwegian Institute for Human Rights, Oslo Bård Borch Michalsen, senior lecturer at UiT Business School, Harstad. Steinar J. Olsen, working chairman of Stormberg, Kristiansand Shabana Rehman, general manager of the foundation Født Fri, Spydeberg Kjetil Rolness, sociologist and writer, Oslo Vebjørn Selbekk, editor-in-chief of Dagen, Moss Jan Inge Sørbø, professor at the University of Volda, Volda Sarah Zahid, student and writer, Bergen Marianne Knudsen, leader of the Norwegian Federation of Youth, Trondheim (stepped in for Mímir Kristjánsson) These have resigned: Begard Reza, general secretary of Salam, Oslo Mimir Kristjánsson, writer and politician, Stavanger Also Rødt politician and writer Mímir Kristjánsson resigned from the commission last year. The reason was that he was elected to the Storting. It has been over 20 years since the previous report on freedom of expression in Norway was presented.
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will have its own council for freedom of expression – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
