The Fritt Ord Foundation is a private non-profit foundation that seeks to promote freedom of expression, public debate, art and culture.
The rap duo Karpe has been awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for giving voice to the experiences of many young people from minority backgrounds. Through the language of rap, they are expanding the space for the expression of identity and belonging.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Institute for Social Research (ISF) invite you to the launch of a report and a subsequent discussion on Monday, 8 June 2026, from 9.00 to 11.00 am, at Fritt Ord’s premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Where do people draw the line when it comes to freedom of expression, and what do they believe to be the greatest threats to an informed debate at a time characterised by unrest, crises and international conflicts? Do they feel there is sufficient diversity of opinion and enough room for divergent viewpoints? And how do people assess access to truthful and relevant information in a media landscape featuring new formats, new voices and artificial intelligence?
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the University of Bergen and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford invite you to a breakfast seminar on Tuesday 16 June 2026 from 08:30–10:00 at Fritt Ord’s premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
The event presents the Reuters Digital News Report 2026 – the world’s largest and most important media survey – which launches internationally on the night of 16 June.
Historian Hilde Henriksen Waage has been awarded the 2026 Fritt Ord Prize for her critical, courageous research and her fearless speaking of truth to power over several decades.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hereby invites applications for grants for master’s projects that deal with freedom of expression from the legal perspective and/or the culture of expression in a broader, cultural sense. Key topics may include the role of technology in freedom of expression and in the culture of expression, or the relationship of minorities and other groups to freedom of expression.
The grants are for NOK 40 000 each.
What happens to public debate when it takes place outside editor-led media? That’s the question posed by master’s student Emilie Kaland Lindseth. Nora Smevold writes about politics on TikTok, Oda Overvåg about women’s organizations in Tunisia, Alma Owing about student protests, and Eline Ruud Kristiansen about journalism on Venezuela. Read about some of the new master’s grants on freedom of expression, spring 2026.
The Fritt Ord Foundation’s new application portal is now available.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is a private non-profit foundation that aspires to promote freedom of expression, public debate, art and culture. The projects that receive funding should benefit the Norwegian public and be accessible to all. In special cases, the Fritt Ord Foundation can help promote freedom of expression in other countries.
The first comprehensive review of the status of freedom of expression in Norway was made in connection with the Freedom of Expression Commission’s report in 1999. Since then, a number of events and more fundamental developments have impacted the conditions for freedom of expression in Norway. ‘Fritt Ord’s Monitoring Project: The Status of Freedom of Expression in Norway’ offers a comprehensive assessment of the status of freedom of expression in Norway from 2013 to 2026.
The European fund Civitates, to which Fritt Ord contributes, was established in 2017. The fund supports players of civil society, attaching importance to projects related to democracy, solidarity and independent journalism.
Fritt Ord offers grants for students working on master’s theses within freedom of expression and democracy building. It also hosts the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Upper Secondary Schools and the Norwegian Historical Society’s competition for pupils.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography was established in 2011 to serve as an arena where independent photographers who work in the interface between traditional press photography on the one hand and art photography on the other will be able to present the full scope of their projects.
Since its inception, Fritt Ord has had media and journalism as one of its core target areas. In today’s demanding media situation, the Foundation has set up separate grant and subsidy schemes for journalists and critics.
Fritt Ord has launched various initiatives related to the communication of knowledge and the promotion of literature, including an annual subsidy scheme earmarked for Norwegian public libraries. In 2005, the Foundation took the initiative to establish Norway’s first house of literature and, in 2010, to ensure the further operation of Store norske leksikon.
