Tobaksreklamförbud vs tryckfrihet - En tolkning av begreppet kommersiell annons

Sammanfattning: The legislation in Sweden regarding tobacco advertising has gradually become more and more aggressive, which comes from the will to reduce the harmful effect that the tobacco companies can have on the consumers` health. This causes restrictions on the tobacco companies possibilities to express themselves, which raises questions about the interplay between laws concerning tobacco advertising and freedom of the press. The determining factor that decides if a publication is protected by the freedom of the press act or forbidden according to the prohibition against tobacco advertising, is whether the publication is considered a commercial advertisement or not. Commercial advertisements are an exception from the freedom of the press act and can therefore be judged according to other regulations. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to try to make the term commercial advertisement clearer by examining how the term is interpreted in case-law, and if the interpretations are following a consistent path throughout existing case-law, and also if this can create a balance between the freedom of the press act and the prohibition against tobacco advertising. The analysis of existing legal usage has, according to the author, shown that the term has been given a somewhat wider interpretation than what appears to be the intention of the law. In the writer’s opinion this is a potential threat towards the freedom of the press, which in several cases has been forced to give in. Even if the legal usage is presenting a united front, this thesis is suggesting some legal clarifications to maintain the distinction between the freedom of the press and the laws regarding tobacco, and to make the balance between these a working fact.