Karlström denied compensation by Swedish court in vaccine documentary privacy case

Linda Karlström, a vaccine skeptic from Kruunupyy, will not receive compensation from the Swedish government after the Svea Court of Appeal overturned a lower court’s ruling regarding a breach of privacy. Karlström had taken legal action against the Swedish state, claiming that Sweden’s public broadcaster had used secretly recorded footage of her in a documentary, portraying her in a negative light.

The appellate court ruled that the government is not liable for damages and has not violated the European Convention on Human Rights. Instead, Karlström was ordered to pay the government’s legal costs incurred throughout the judicial process. Sweden lacks clear guidelines for using hidden cameras. The court determined that Karlström’s right to privacy outweighed the freedom of expression of journalists, yet found no contradiction with the European human rights framework.

The legal action stemmed from a documentary aired by Swedish public broadcaster SVT, which focused on the anti-vaccine movement. Two SVT journalists infiltrated the movement and Karlström’s close circle for 18 months, capturing some content without consent. Controversially, during the documentary, Karlström questioned the extent of the Jewish genocide. Initially, the lower court found that Karlström’s privacy rights were breached, referencing Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to family and private life. The court awarded Karlström 100,000 Swedish krona (approximately 9,000 euros) in damages, but this ruling has now been overturned by the appeals court.