Al Avai: Bizarre how the Aftonbladet story is playing out. It seems that the Swedish Government, the press, and now the official Jewish Community (Lena Posner) confuse freedom of speech with immunity for libel. The Swedish public and press see it as a "freedom of the press" issue. Was Nazi propaganda an exercise of "freedom of speech"? Should we celebrate the bravery of the Berlin press of 1938? Perhaps publishing antisemitic slander is legal in Sweden. This doesn't stop the government from disavowing the article, condemning it, or regretting it. Why has this not been asked publicly? Additional questions not being asked in Sweden are why such an antisemite as the author should be given a pass to the public fora, and why the Aftonbladet would publish such a story with only hearsay behind it. It's amazing how simple-mindedly this question of "press freedom" is being presented. The media frequently refrain from presenting a story if it will, for example, interfere with security or police operations, and the difference between respectable newspapers and the yellow press is obvious from the front page ("Princess *** to break engagement" etc.). Sweden is familiar with limits to freedom of the press-- Princess Madeleine received 400.000 ? from the Klambt-Mediengruppe for publishing false reports in the yellow press.
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