Gränsdragning mellan yttrandefrihet och förtal - Rättsväsendets hantering av fall med koppling till #metoo

Sammanfattning: The border between freedom of speech and defamation - how does the judicial system handle cases linked to #metoo. In the aftermath of the #metoo movement, questions arises about the border between freedom of speech and defamation. This essay aims to determine the border between freedom of speech and defamation in cases where women have designated their alleged sexual abuse perpetrators in social media. By using legal dogmatic method and by applying a gender perspective, this essay inquires into the border between freedom of speech and defamation is indirectly discriminatory for women because it makes public conversations about personal experiences without self-censorship impossible. This essay aims to look into different aspects of the question such as the law and the Swedish society. The focus is on insults in social media against an individual. By adding a gender perspective this essay aims to capture the relationship between freedom of speech and the defamation crime for women in this particular situation. By studying the current law, legislative history, the European law and defamation cases, as well as studying relevant statistics and different aspects of society we come to realise that there is a conflict between the woman’s freedom of speech and her right to talk about her private life, and the man’s right to his private life and personal integrity. The conclusion of this essay is that there are certain indicators of an indirekt discrimination towards women and that the Swedish state does not fulfil their responsibility to protect women in cases of sexual assault and defamation. This essay does not look into defamation for deceased, nor insulting offence, LGBTQ people or people of underage.