Services on the Internet make our lives easier and the access to information better. The Internet is an important infrastructure for different expressions and debate, distribution of quality news content from editor-controlled media, as well as access to movies, music, literature, and TV. At the same time, the tech companies behind these services have become dominant players in the field and have gained considerable economic, political and cultural power. The result is that platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok and Apple have significant influence on the democratic debate in Norway, on the way we attain information and how we communicate with each other.

Editor-controlled media is necessary for a well-functioning democracy and can work as an antidote to mis- and disinformation. It is therefore highly problematic when the platforms block, mute or moderate editorial content from editor-controlled media in Norway. These practices can challenge both freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Therefore, the Minister of Culture and Equality have invited representatives of Norwegian editor-controlled media and of the platform companies for ceveral dialogue meetings since 2022. The goal of these meetings is to establish a better dialogue, and to explore how the parties can collaborate on regulation that at the same time secures freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Norway.

In addition, the Minister of Culture and Equality had separate meetings with the Nordic representatives of TikTok, Apple and Meta in December 2022. The Minister encouraged the companies to commit to the dialogue with the editor-controlled media, and to be more transparent.

There are also several initiatives in the EU to regulate the platforms, which the Government is considering to implement through the EEA Agreement. The goals of these regulations are more openness and transparency, to secure control over illegal content, to require that the platforms assess systemic risks to their services, as well as to secure a more contestable and fair digital market. Read more about the relevant regulations and proposed regulations here:

The major platform companies, with the exception of X, have committed to complying with a common European industry standard against disinformation. Among other things, the platforms pledge to make the spread of disinformation less financially profitable, ensure greater transparency around political advertising, strengthen cooperation with fact-checkers, and provide better access to data for researchers. 

Since 2023, the Norwegian Media Authority has reviewed the reporting from platform companies on how they comply with this industry standard, particularly regarding measures that affect Norwegian users and how they report at the national level.

The Media Authority finds that most providers take the fight against disinformation seriously and comply with the industry standard to a greater extent than before. At the same time, the Authority assesses that the quality of reporting from the platforms varies significantly. This includes how companies report on measures to prevent algorithmic and ad-funded amplification of disinformation, actions against fake accounts and artificially generated content, researcher access, and cooperation with fact-checkers. 

In June 2025, the government launched a strategy to strengthen resilience against disinformation. The strategy addresses, among other things, how we can: 

  • Help strengthen the population’s critical media literacy, enabling people to assess the credibility of information, images, and videos themselves.
  • Ensure robust monitoring of social media and other internet platforms, and their impact on public discourse.
  • Further develop media policy to ensure that the media can continue to fulfil their societal role in the future.
  • Contribute to increased knowledge about how disinformation spreads in Norway and the extent to which it affects public discourse.
  • Strengthen efforts for a comprehensive approach to combating disinformation and promoting good information flow.

As part of the implementation of the strategy to strengthen resilience against disinformation, the Government has provided funding to the Tenk Foundation, Norway's centre for source criticism and media literacy. Tenk’s main task will be to promote critical thinking and source awareness among the public in their encounters with digital sources of information.

The Government has also supported the establishment of a new research centre dedicated to the public discourse. The centre is hosted by the Institute for Social Research and will contribute long-term research on the conditions for freedom of expression in Norway, including developments such as polarisation and the spread of disinformation. The aim is to provide a more systematic and up-to-date evidence base that can be used by both public authorities and the wider public.