Criticism of the City of Gothenburg’s Cultural Committee on the grounds that posts on a library’s Instagram account did not fulfil the requirements of objectivity and impartiality in the Instrument of Government

After an author wrote a high-profile newspaper article, a library posted on Instagram that books by the author were being removed from their collection and given away.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the information the post communicated was incorrect and there was a risk that the library would be perceived as having removed the books because of the opinions expressed by the author. The publication of the post therefore did not fulfil the Instrument of Government’s requirements of objectivity and impartiality. A cultural committee is criticised for the incident.

In the decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman makes a more general statement on the library’s engagement on social media and stresses the need for a system that minimises the risk of ill-considered or hasty posts.