In Sweden, a nurse can tell a newspaper about failings at her public hospital, and her boss commits a crime if he tries to find out who talked. This guide explains how that source protection works, where it stops, and what it means for you as a non-Swede.
When you need this
You might be an exchange student on placement at a Swedish hospital or school, or a newcomer working for a municipality, and you see something you think the public should know. A journalist might ask you, as a witness, what you saw. Or your employer gathers staff and asks “who talked to the press?”, and you wonder whether that is even allowed.
It also helps if you read Swedish news and notice how often stories rest on anonymous sources, or if you are a journalist or student comparing Sweden with your own country. This page explains what the law says. It isn’t legal advice for a specific case.
The five parts of meddelarskydd
Meddelarskydd (source protection) is a bundle of rules in two of Sweden’s fundamental laws. The Freedom of the Press Act (tryckfrihetsförordningen, TF) covers printed media. The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen, YGL) covers radio, TV, films and many news websites. Both say the same thing in five steps:
| Part | Swedish term | What it means | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom to inform | meddelarfrihet | Anyone may give information on any subject to a journalist, editor, newsroom or news agency for publication, and may gather information for that purpose | TF 1:7, YGL 1:10 |
| Anonymity | anonymitet | A source has no duty to give a name, and nobody may raise the source’s identity in a press-freedom trial | TF 3:1–2 |
| Duty of confidentiality | tystnadsplikt | Everyone who worked on the publication, or at the publisher or news agency, must keep the source’s identity secret | TF 3:3 |
| Ban on tracing | efterforskningsförbud | Authorities and other public bodies may not try to find out who the source is | TF 3:5, YGL 2:5 |
| Ban on reprisals | repressalieförbud | Authorities and public bodies may not act against anyone for using press freedom | TF 3:6, YGL 2:6 |
These are not polite principles. Breaking the confidentiality duty, intentionally tracing a source, or punishing someone by dismissal, notice or a disciplinary sanction can bring a fine or up to one year in prison. Only the Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern, JK) may prosecute press-freedom crimes and the related source crimes. That means a public body that suspects a leak cannot investigate it itself.
JK has also said, in a 2018 decision closing a tracing investigation, that public-body representatives must avoid even actions that could be seen as displeasure at staff speaking to the media.
Who is protected, and against whom
The law gives the freedom to inform to “everyone” (var och en). Nothing requires Swedish citizenship or residence, so a tourist or exchange student who tips off a Swedish newsroom is protected in the same way as a Swede. TF does allow ordinary law to set special limits for non-citizens. We found no such limit aimed at sources, but we did not check every statute.
The bans on tracing and reprisals are a different matter. They bind the public sector, so who your employer is decides how strong your protection is:
| Your employer | Can it look for the source or punish you? |
|---|---|
| A state agency, municipality or region | No, both are crimes |
| A municipal or regional company, or a body listed in the secrecy act | No, the same rules apply by law |
| A privately run but publicly funded school, clinic, dental practice or care provider | No, under a 2017 law, but CEOs and board members are excluded |
| Any other private company | Constitutional protection does not stop it |
So a cleaner at a municipal care home and a nurse at a tax-funded private clinic are both protected against their employer. A waiter at a private hotel is not, as far as the fundamental laws go. For problems inside a private company, the separate whistleblower law (Lag 2021:890) offers internal and external reporting channels. It expressly leaves the constitutional source protection in place, but the two systems protect differently.
Watch out: if you work in the private sector outside publicly funded welfare, constitutional source protection does not stop your employer investigating who talked to the media.
Where the protection stops
The freedom to inform is wide, but three kinds of disclosure stay punishable even when you give them to a journalist:
- Security crimes. Treason, espionage, gross unauthorised handling of secret information and similar crimes are not protected. Foreign espionage (utlandsspioneri) was added to this list by an amendment (SFS 2022:1517), so older English guides that mention only treason and espionage are incomplete. In these cases the journalist’s duty of silence also lifts.
- Secret documents. You may tell a journalist what you know. Deliberately handing over an official document that is not public, or one an authority released only under conditions, is a crime. The 2017 law for private welfare says outright that it gives no right to hand out documents.
- Strict secrecy rules. The Public Access and Secrecy Act (offentlighets- och sekretesslagen, OSL) names a short list of secrecy rules that override the freedom to inform. Most other secrecy yields to it.
A court can also, in narrow cases, order a journalist to say at a hearing whether a named person was the source. That requires the source’s consent, one of the security crimes, or a finding that disclosure is necessary or of exceptional importance.
Which media count
Source protection only works if the information is meant for a medium covered by TF or YGL. That means printed newspapers and magazines, radio, TV, films and recordings, and websites run by newspapers, broadcasters and news agencies. It also covers other sites that hold a publishing certificate (utgivningsbevis).
A post on your own social-media account or a personal blog without a certificate is outside both laws. You then have no constitutional anonymity, and the rules on tracing don’t help you. Information you give in Sweden to a foreign publication is protected too, but not if it involves crimes against Sweden’s security, secret documents or a deliberate breach of confidentiality.
From 1766 to today
Sweden’s press freedom ordinance took effect on 2 December 1766. It was the first law in the world regulating freedom of expression in print, and it also gave citizens the right to read official documents. That second right lives on as offentlighetsprincipen, the principle of public access, explained in our guide to why Swedish salaries and addresses are public. UNESCO added the 1766 records to its Memory of the World register in May 2023.
The current Freedom of the Press Act dates from 1949, not 1766. It still holds both halves of the tradition: public access in chapter 2 and source protection in chapters 1 and 3. Changing it takes two identical Riksdag votes with an election in between. The amendments waiting for the Riksdag elected in September 2026, including a wider hate-speech rule, do not touch the source-protection chapters.
One change is fixed in ordinary law. From 1 January 2027 independent preschools and schools come under the right of public access and the full public-sector source rules, instead of the 2017 private-welfare law. Smaller operators get lighter rules.
What to do in practice
If you want to tell the media something:
- Go to a newsroom, not your own social-media account. Covered media are what trigger protection.
- Say at the start that you want to be anonymous. The journalist is then bound by law to keep your name secret.
- Share what you know, not copies of internal secret files.
- Check your employer type against the table above before assuming you’re protected.
- If a public employer starts asking who leaked, you can report it to JK, which alone decides whether to investigate.
- For a private company, compare its whistleblower channel with going to the press.
Being a visitor changes none of this. The right is the same for you as for a Swedish citizen.
Practical information
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who may be a protected source | Everyone, including tourists and other non-citizens |
| Cost of tipping off the media or reporting tracing to JK | Free |
| Penalty for revealing a source, tracing one, or a reprisal dismissal | Fines or up to 1 year in prison |
| Who prosecutes | The Chancellor of Justice (JK) only |
| Protected against your employer | Public sector, municipal companies, publicly funded private welfare |
| Never protected | Security crimes, handing over secret documents, breaches of strict secrecy rules |
| Next change | 1 January 2027: independent schools move under the public-sector rules |
FAQ
Can a foreign tourist use Swedish source protection?
Yes. The Freedom of the Press Act gives the freedom to inform to “everyone”, not only to citizens or residents. If you give information to a Swedish newsroom for publication, the journalist must keep your identity secret and public bodies may not try to find you. The exceptions are the same as for Swedes: espionage-type crimes, secret documents and some strict secrecy rules.
Can my employer fire me for talking to a journalist in Sweden?
If you work for an authority, a municipality or region, a municipal company or a publicly funded private school, clinic or care provider, no: firing or disciplining you for using press freedom is a crime. Most other private employers are not covered by the constitutional ban, though the separate whistleblower law may protect you. Executives and board members of private welfare companies are excluded.
Can the police find out who leaked to a newspaper?
Generally not. Public bodies, including the police, may not try to identify a source, and journalists must stay silent. Tracing is allowed only where needed to prosecute a crime the fundamental law excludes from protection, such as espionage or deliberately releasing secret documents. Only the Chancellor of Justice can bring those cases, and a court decides whether a journalist must testify.
Does source protection cover social media posts?
Not usually. The protection covers information given for publication in media within the Freedom of the Press Act or the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression: printed papers, radio, TV and editorial websites or sites with a publishing certificate. A post on your own social-media account falls outside, so you have no constitutional anonymity there. Tip off a newsroom instead.
Can I give a journalist secret documents in Sweden?
Information, yes; secret documents, no. Telling a journalist what you know is protected even when the information is otherwise confidential, except for a short list of strict secrecy rules. Deliberately handing over an official document that is not public, or one released under conditions, is punishable. The private-welfare protection law also states that it gives no right to hand out documents.
Why is 1766 important for Swedish press freedom?
On 2 December 1766 Sweden’s press freedom ordinance took effect, the first law in the world regulating freedom of expression in print. It also gave citizens the right to read official documents, the root of today’s public-access principle. UNESCO listed its records as Memory of the World in May 2023. The current Freedom of the Press Act, which still contains both rights, dates from 1949.
Related guides
- Why Swedish salaries and addresses are public — the public-access half of the 1766 tradition
- How Sweden is governed — which authorities and public bodies the tracing ban binds
- Swedish news in English — the newsrooms you can actually read and contact
- Public service in Sweden: SVT and SR — broadcasters covered by the same fundamental law
- The Swedish police explained — what officers may and may not ask you
Facts verified 2026-10-14. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (Freedom of the Press Act, Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression, Public Access and Secrecy Act, Lag 2017:151, whistleblower law, pending constitutional amendments), Justitiekanslern, Regeringskansliet, Riksarkivet — full register in this topic’s source file. This page is not legal advice. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.