Erik Strand, 02.07.22
After the shooting in Oslo om June 24th, a private person named Eirik Furuseth commented how Norway’s largest private broadcaster, TV2, commented the tragedy, on Facebook. His post would soon get a lot of attention, as he was contacted by Fredrik Græsvik, a well-known TV2 reporter. The online newspaper Nettavisen has covered the story in Norwegian here.
Græsvik soon contacted Furuseth by Facebook. Screenshots from their conversation have been saved, and Nettavisen displays some of the most central content. Græsvik first asks if Furuseth is a handball coach for Njård, and if it is true that he works for Finasco. Furuseth confirmed that this was right. Græsvik then went on:
“I think it is of interest to produce a piece on what Njård and Finansco think about your statements om queers and muslims on an account where you link to them. Will you accept an interview on this? (you have already uttered yourself publicly, so an anonymous interview is not an option. With best regards, Fredrik Græsvik.”
Furuseth then asks what Gresvik means by ‘statements om queers and muslims’. Græsvik declines to give any examples. It turns out that Græsvik has contacted Furuseth’s employer by mail and asked them what they think about having an employee (according to the bio) who do not like muslims. He writes that he considers making a presentation on what employers think about hate speech from their employees.
Finansco reacted harshly towards Græsvik’s approach. Nettavisen presents their entire reply to TV2. Finansco tells that they have zero tolerance on hate speech, and that Furuseth has been active in creating this policy. They ask Græsvik to privide examples of negative remarks on homosexuals or muslims to Finansco. Othervise, they will consider Græsvik’s approach as pure harassment. They also note the context of the mail from Græsvik – it came soon after Furuseth ciricised TV2 in a closed Facebook group.
To sum up – a profiled TV2 reporter sees something he does not like in social media. He makes up some accusations on hate speech and contacts the employer of the person who writes something he does not like.
TV2 has later appologized for Græsviks behaviour.
Fampo 