Mellom folkelig og juridisk forståelse av ytringsfrihet : Analyse av ytringsfrihetsbegrepet i debatten etter nazimarsjen i Kristiansand, sommeren 2017

Abstract

29 July 2017: A group of neo-Nazi activists marched through the main street of Kristiansand. The rally, and the way the police dealt with it (or rather the police force´s reluctancy to deal with the activists), caused massive debate, both locally and nationally. Freedom of speech was the main theme of the discussions in the aftermath of the rally: The police claimed that the march was within the boundaries of freedom of speech – an opinion supported by some. But there were also many who argued that the police should have intercepted the rally as the neo-Nazis´ action and statements would be in conflict with the Norwegian law. In my thesis, I will look into the different perceptions of the concept of freedom of speech and the different interpretations of reality that became evident through the discussions in the wake of the nationalist rally. The thesis will have a pragmatic approach and the theory is based on concepts and insights from general discourse analysis, and particularly critical discourse analysis. Furthermore, the thesis is based on theories focusing on the different aspects of freedom of speech. By analyzing the text itself and the arguments, I will try to present and consider the different ways the concept of freedom of speech was used throughout the debate. My sources reveal that the public disagrees on how to understand this concept. The controversy is not about the justification of the concept, nor the fact that it has certain limitations, but rather about how the limitations are understood and who is responsible for assessing the legality of the statements.