The inquiry was set up last autumn and the purpose was, among other things, to make it more difficult for criminal networks to map out crime victims by using search services and legal databases. This can involve sites such as Ratsit, Mrkoll, and Lexbase.
The commercial sites are protected, just like the media, by the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. Now the inquiry proposes that the legal protection be limited for search services and legal databases that disclose personal data by introducing an exception in the Constitution.
According to the inquiry, the search services' activities are far removed from the core area of media legislation.
Individuals can also be affected by integrity damage, said the special investigator Daniel Gustavsson at a press conference on Wednesday.
The inquiry will now be sent out for consultation.
Both the Journalist Association and The Newspaper Publishers are critical of the inquiry's proposal.
"If the proposal is implemented, it risks seriously impeding journalists' opportunities to access information and to conduct investigative journalism," says The Newspaper Publishers' CEO Johan Taubert in a comment.
