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In May 2020, the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) unanimously passed the Act relating to editorial independence and liability of editor-controlled journalistic media, medieansvarsloven (Media Liability Act). The act entered into force on 1 July 2020. It updates and gathers special rules on liability in the media field and introduces new legislative provisions. The former mediefridomslova (Editorial Independence Act) is repealed from the entry into force of the new act. The legislative process followed up on the report of the Medieansvarsutvalget (Media Liability Commission) on freedom of expression...

In May 2020, the kringkastingsloven (Broadcasting Act) was amended in order to give Medietilsynet (Norwegian Media Authority, NMA) competence to take measures against illegal advertising for gambling. The amendment enters into force on 1 January 2021. Gambling and lotteries are strictly regulated in Norway. There is an absolute ban on advertising, with the exception of a few companies. Lotteritilsynet (Norwegian Gaming Authority) is responsible for supervising the ban. However, there has been a massive, and until last year, increasing volume of advertising for gambling on TV channels under foreign...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered a new judgment with regard to the liability of an Internet portal for offensive content allegedly tarnishing one’s reputation (see also Delfi v. Estonia (Grand Chamber), IRIS 2015-7/1; Magyar Tartalomszolgáltatók Egyesülete and Index.hu Zrt v. Hungary, Iris 2016-3/2 and Pihl v. Sweden, Iris 2017-5/3). The ECtHR agreed with the findings by the Norwegian courts that although some anonymous comments were inappropriate and tasteless, the expeditious removal of the offensive comments upon actual knowledge by the media company and the editor exempted...

On 23 June 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture announced a tender on an agreement with the State to deliver commercial public service broadcasting in Norway. The announcement stated that the state would compensate the contractor for the net costs associated with the assignment, and that the grants would be up to NOK 135 million (EUR 15 million) a year for five years. It is the first time in the Norwegian context that the state has been prepared to give direct financial support in exchange for the delivery of public service content by a commercial broadcaster. The arrangement will be organised...

A recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) emphasises once more the importance of the protection of journalistic sources for press freedom. The ECtHR emphasises that a journalist’s protection under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) cannot automatically be removed by virtue of a source’s own conduct, and that the principle of protecting a source applies even when that source’s identity is known. The case concerns a journalist, Cecilie Langum Becker, working for DN.no, a Norwegian Internet-based newspaper. Ms Becker was ordered to give evidence in a...