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On 1 July 2025, amendments to Chapter 6, Sections 11 and 12 of the Swedish Penal Code entered into force. These legislative changes expand the scope of criminal liability for the offences of purchase of sexual services and procuring to also encompass acts performed remotely, i.e., without physical contact, for example via webcam or other digital means. Although the revised statutory provisions do not explicitly refer to acts performed remotely, the legislative intent is that such conduct, through modifications to other constituent elements of the offences, shall be included. The reasons behind...

In a judgment of 19 June 2018, the Third Section Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that the bulk interception of electronic signals in Sweden for foreign intelligence purposes, on the basis of Swedish Signals Intelligence Act, did not violate the right to privacy and correspondence under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), nor the right to an effective remedy under Article 13 ECHR (see IRIS 2018-8/3). After referral, the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR in its judgment of 25 May 2021 came to the final conclusion that the Swedish bulk interception regime...

On 7 May 2021, the European Commission delivered an important decision, finding that the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council’s 12-month suspension of the television channel Rossiya RTR in Latvia, due to incitement to violence or hatred, was compatible with the EU’s Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMDS). This follows a recent EU Court of Justice judgment on restricting transmissions of broadcasts from other EU member states on the basis of incitement to hatred (IRIS 2019-8/3), and earlier European Commission decisions on this issue (see IRIS 2018-7/7 and IRIS 2017-6/5)....

According to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Swedish law permitting the bulk interception of electronic signals in Sweden for foreign intelligence purposes does not violate the right to privacy and correspondence under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR reached this conclusion after a Swedish human rights not-for-profit organisation, Centrum för Rättvisa (“the Centrum”), lodged a complaint with the Strasbourg Court, alleging that Swedish legislation and practice in the field of signals intelligence violated and continued to violate its privacy...

On 31 January 2018, the European Commission decided that Sweden’s intention to impose a ban on alcohol advertising on two UK-based broadcasters that target mainly Swedish audiences is not compatible with EU law. This is the first Commission decision to be based on Article 4 of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (2010/13/EU) (AVMSD). Under the AVMSD, the laws applicable to a broadcaster are determined on the basis of the country-of-origin principle. According to this principle, a broadcaster must comply only with the rules of the EU member state in which it is established, even if it broadcasts...