Thoughts On Freedom Of Expression On The Internet

• Published date: 02 February 2021
• Subject Matter: Consumer Protection, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, IT and Internet, Consumer Law, Social Media
• Law Firm: Foyen Advokatfirma
• Author: Ms Sara Malmgren

The word "freedom of expression" is not infrequently used in connection with discussions about what Twitter and Facebook allow their users to write. This is more relevant than ever since Twitter, Instagram and Facebook chose to close Donald Trump's accounts after what happened in Washington on the 6th of January.

How should this issue be discussed from a Swedish legal perspective? We can first and foremost state that social medias like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are to a very great extent private actors that provide services on the Internet and there are many such actors, even in Sweden. If you as a user choose to open an account with, e.g., Facebook, you can only do so if you accept the terms and conditions established by Facebook. A service provider, both on the Internet and in real life, can choose to establish any terms and conditions, as long as they do not violate the law. If you deliver a service for a fee, you need, e.g., to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Services Act. If you engage in distance selling, the Distance and Off-Premises Contracts Act applies. Furthermore, if you sell products in a store to consumers, the Consumer Sales Act applies. But, if you deliver a free service on the Internet (we will leave the discussion regarding the fact that your information is a source of income for the service provider for now), then you are largely free to establish any terms and conditions. If you think that only cat people with red jackets should be allowed on your forum, that's OK. If you agree to those terms and conditions, then you must also comply with them, otherwise the service provider may act in accordance with the terms and conditions of use and suspend you if these give the service provider the opportunity to do so. A contract is a contract - quite simply, both the service provider and the user have rights and obligations according to the terms and conditions of the service.

The vast majority of actors that provide space for users to write online in Sweden have terms and conditions for the service. It is common, e.g., for a service provider to say that users are not permitted to break a law if they use the service, and if they were nevertheless to do so, the service provider has the right to suspend the user. If I, as a user of an Internet service, illegally upload copyrighted material, I am breaking the law, and the person responsible for the website can thus suspend me if it follows from their terms and conditions. The...