SWEDISH NEWSPAPERS WIN RESPITE FROM ADVERTISING PERSECUTION

21 March 2008

Advertising prosecutions put on hold


Earlier this year the feisty editors of two leading Swedish newspapers - Aftonbladet and Expressen - went public with their concerns regarding law officials interfering in their right to carry advertising from online gambling companies, allegedly in contravention of laws protecting government lottery monopolies.

In a joint impassioned public and criminal appeal against their convictions the editors outlined the problems and harrassment they had been experiencing and highlighted the incompatibility of Swedish laws with European Union trade pacts. Subsequently, the Swedish Court of Appeals was directed to examine the cases, and found that the Swedish lottery laws were possibly in contradiction with certain articles of the European Union pact.

The efforts of the editors paid off this week when Swedish media reported that the national Prosecution Authority has been made to halt prosecutions against Swedish media companies who accept advertising from Internet gambling services. The new court order was issued by UC Malmö.

The next step for Aftonbladet is an appeal of the massive fines it was assessed for accepting the online ads. Those fines, some SEK 150 000 (around $25 000) per advertisement, could aggregate to many tens of millions of dollars. Aftonbladet also accepts significant advertising from Svenska Spel, the Swedish state-run gambling monopoly.

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