Without the social media, I would not have had the voice I have today

November 19 2014

Seasoned female online debaters claim that one must be thick-skinned and endure unpleasantness if one wants to take part in debates on the social media. Over time, some women become more reticent about utterances they know can be provocative, according to a recent report that is part of the project ‘Status of Freedom of Expression in Norway’.

Sociologist Hedda Espeli has examined the possibilities for women to express themselves in the digital public space in Norway. For some women, online smears are such a burden that they end up choosing debate fora that they experience as safe and unbiased. Thus they become less visible in the more open fora, e.g. in the comments fields of online newspapers.

Espeli’s study complements and supplements earlier studies on the relationship between gender and participation in the public space. The report provides insight into the opportunities women who express opinions have in the digital public space in Norway.

The report is part of the project The Status of Freedom of Expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation’s monitoring project.

Download Women's opinions in the culture of the digital public space (pdf) (In Norwegian)

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Norway's first journal about narratives. Reports, investigative journalism and new grants for journalism

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“Those of us who do not live in cities also deserve access to rich public discourse,” says Tora Hope, editor of Jaja, a new journal about narratives based in the village of Fjaler in western Norway. The student newspaper Universitas has received funding to examine the situation for freedom of expression at educational institutions, and photojournalist Nora Savosnick has been on a reporting trip to Israel and Palestine. See the new grants for journalism (list in Norwegian only).

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Freedom of Expression and the War in Gaza

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The Fritt Ord Foundation, Masahat for Arab Culture in Exile, and Vega Scene cordially invite the public to a conversation on Wednesday, 29 November 2023 from 6 – 8 p.m. at Vega Scene in Hausmanns gate 30, Oslo.

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How to avoid deadlocked debates in permanent culture wars.

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“It takes differences of opinion to have a debate. When the stakes are high, discussions pick up momentum, but a high level of conflict combined with an irreconcilable tone raises concerns about democracy per se,” says author and social geographer Anja Sletteland, who has earned a PhD in ‘deadlocked debates’. The controversy surrounding the NRK programme Brainwash got her interested in debates ‘that go bananas’, and in cancellations. Now she is writing a book about why this happens and how to avoid sliding into perpetual trench warfare, where no one listens to each other. See the grants that Fritt Ord awarded in October (list in Norwegian only).

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Open debate and discussion: Male roles in Muslim communities

November 6 2023

Fritt Ord’s project ‘Islam in Norway’ invites the public to an open debate and discussion on male roles in Muslim communities, with a special focus on the situation of boys. The event will be held on Thursday, 9 November 2023, from 6 to 7.30 p.m. in ‘Skramsalen’ at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.