The register, which consists of an Excel file, was established during the pandemic in 2020. The purpose was to keep track of media inquiries and be able to forward cases to other employees.
The newspaper Journalisten requested the register in January this year as a public document, but was denied. After an appeal, a copy of the register for the period from December 18 last year to February 20 this year was released last week.
During that period, a total of 144 journalists had been registered. This concerns journalists who have sought information or requested public documents.
"Directly unsuitable"
Nils Funcke says that "it is directly unsuitable and contrary to the spirit of the Freedom of the Press Act".
Anyone who requests a public document has the right to remain anonymous. If you email your request, the email becomes a public document and thus, of course, anonymity is revoked, but that does not mean that the authority has the opportunity to establish its own register of who has requested which documents, he says to Journalisten.
Funcke further states that he has difficulty seeing how the register can function with the provisions of the Data Protection Regulation.
Delete after two months
Erika Burlin Hellman is the acting press chief at Region Stockholm. According to her, the register is a way to ensure that journalists receive answers to their questions:
”It is a way to document our ongoing work and means that questions can be taken care of, regardless of whether they have been received via email and phone”, writes Erika Burlin Hellman to Journalisten.
