Strengthen protection of academic freedom, inquiry urges

Two days before the Swedish general election on 13 September 2026, Professor Anna-Sara Lind, who was mandated by the Ministry of Higher Education on 25 April 2025 to be the special investigator on academic freedom in Sweden, delivered the 430-page report, which concluded that although Sweden enjoys a high level of academic freedom by international standards, challenges exist.

Threats, hate speech and harassment, along with precarious employment and funding conditions and various forms of external and internal governance, can still affect the ability of researchers and teachers to exercise academic freedom.

So although the current regulatory framework generally provides robust protection for the academic freedom of researchers and teachers, certain changes are required to further strengthen this protection and ensure the system’s long-term resilience, concludes the report, Academic freedom – responsibility, mandate, and strengthened conditions for the future.

“Academic freedom is a fundamental prerequisite for high-quality research and education and a vital component of an open and democratic society,” the report stated.

The inquiry’s key recommendations include clarifying the provision on academic freedom in the Higher Education Act and supplementing it with principles regarding freedom in education.

To strengthen collegiality, it proposes that certain decisions concerning research and education be made by a group in which researchers and teachers with relevant expertise constitute the majority, the report noted.

It recommends that higher education institutions establish a national support function for academic freedom and be tasked with providing training on academic freedom for public sector employees who collaborate with universities and university colleges.

Finally, the inquiry proposes that the impact on academic freedom be taken into account in impact assessments.

The inquiry was tasked with analysing whether the protection of academic freedom for researchers and teachers needs to be strengthened and assessing the need for further support regarding issues related to academic freedom.

It urges that researchers and teachers participate in the drafting of proposed amendments to the degree ordinance.

To strengthen protection against undue influence, a new ground for disciplinary action is proposed against students who subject higher education institution staff to such conduct.

Constitutional protection for academic freedom

The inquiry also emphasises that the question of constitutional protection for academic freedom which has been raised before – as reported by University World News – requires further investigation.

The Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions (SUHF) and The Association of Swedish Teachers and Researchers (SULF), the Young Academy of Sweden and the National Union of Students on 15 September, issued a joint statement calling for academic freedom to be included in the Constitution.

Lind endorsed this and proposed that this issue be further discussed in the hearing round and in a special parliamentary inquiry.

Minister for Higher Education and Research Lotta Edholm (Liberal Party) said that she finds the report’s findings “very interesting” – particularly the proposal that the constitutional prerequisites be examined further.

“As a Liberal, I consider it important to provide constitutional protection for academic freedom. I want to send the report out for formal consultation as soon as possible. “I am not entirely sure how that process works during the interim period between two parliamentary terms, but I certainly anticipate that it will be circulated for consultation,” Edholm said to Universitetsläraren.

Sanna Wolk, president of SULF, said in a press release that the government must secure broader protection for academic freedom, that the report aims to strengthen free university education and that the proposals include supplementing the Higher Education Act with principles regarding the freedom of education.

The content of education should be freely determined, the structure and implementation of education freely chosen, and students’ freedom to learn safeguarded, she said. “This is an important step, but the real work begins now.

“Free knowledge is the foundation of a democracy, and academic freedom must not depend on who currently holds political power. The government must urgently circulate the report for consultation and subsequently appoint a parliamentary inquiry regarding broader constitutional protection for a free academy,” Wolk said.

“In today’s social climate, strong legal protection is essential. We need protection that holds firm even when academic freedom is subjected to political pressure.” Wolk added that there is now “both broad support and a concrete basis for action, so the government has no reason to lose momentum”.

Victor Holmström, vice-president of the National Union of Students told University World News: “SFS agrees with SULF and SUHF that academic freedom needs to be enshrined in the Swedish constitution in order to afford sufficient protections and long-term resilience.”

He stressed that they hope whatever constellation forms the next government will recognise the sector-wide consensus on this matter and move forward with a parliamentary inquiry on constitutional reform.

“We are largely positive to the main proposals of the inquiry but remain hesitant regarding the proposed new standard for disciplinary procedures, as we believe it risks limiting the academic freedom of students, which the inquiry otherwise does a good job of highlighting,” Holmström said.

Chair of the Young Academy of Sweden, associate professor Elham B Rostami at Uppsala University, told University World News: “The restriction of academic freedom is increasing – and rapidly so. Our politicians must protect academia and safeguard the foundations of democracy.”

The academy welcomed the clear expression of the need for parliament to consider constitutional protection for academic freedom.

“We wish to see robust protection for the freedom of research and education, the academic freedom of individual teachers and researchers, and the institutional autonomy of higher education institutions.”

Rostami said it was hard to say which political side wants to be able to take the question of academic freedom further, but parties across the two block borders are positive.

The Red-Green Bloc headed by the Social Democratic Party are holding 176 representatives in the parliament and the governing “Tidö Bloc” (with the support of the right-wing Sweden Democrats, not in the government) 173, when more than 99% of the votes were counted on 17 September.

Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats will be asked to form a minority government together with the Left Party and the Green Party since the Center Party will not govern together with the Left Party. Before the election it was agreed by the partners in the present government that the right-wing Sweden Democrats should be having ministers in a new government. Support for the Sweden Democrats was reduced from 20.5% in 2022 to 17.5%.

What the election result means

When asked what the election result means for the demand for better protection of academic freedom in the Swedish constitution, Karin Åmossa, head of policy and international affairs at SULF, told University World News that the Social Democrats have so far been against consolidating the constitution, while the Green Party, the Left Party and the Liberals are in favour.

Tim Ekberg, senior advisor to the office of the vice-chancellor at Lund University and a member of the SUHF expert group on analysis, who is the author of the SUHF publication “Academic freedom as in the Nordic countries – A study on how academic freedom have developed for universities in Denmark, Finland and Norway with proposals how this can increase in Sweden” and “Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy” (SUHF, 2023), told University World News: “We have a difficult government formation ahead of us in Sweden with considerable uncertainty.

But he said that, regardless of the government constellation that emerges, the question of a constitutional amendment will be on the agenda for the next government. Further, that issue should be raised when Lind’s investigation is sent out for referral to the universities and other relevant organisations.

“I am quite optimistic that a new government will look into this issue, but there is a long and winding road ahead before this can be achieved,” Ekberg said. Amending the Constitution is a cumbersome process in Sweden. It needs a majority decision in two parliaments with a general election in between.