The Government of Sweden has commissioned the Broadcast Media Authority to investigate if community radio is being commercially exploited. The authority should consider and, if necessary, propose changes in the legal framework or other changes in order to stop misuse of community radio. The investigation should be completed 15 October, 2012. For several years private interests have taken over community radio licences via proxies posing as “non-profit associations”. In this way an informal commercial radio sector has been established. Today, 25 out of 130 community radio stations (närradio) are privately and commercially operated in Sweden. As they are formally community radio stations, they are not legally bound to pay the annual concession fee imposed on the official commercial radio stations.

Community radio is of importance for the civil society. If community radio licences are used for commercial means this will put associations at risk of losing community radio, says Culture and Media Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. It can also distort competition in the commercial radio market, she says. In a letter in May this year, the pan-european organization Community Media Forum Europe alerted the Swedish government on this issue. Internationally it is widely recognized that community radio stations should be non-profit operations for the benefit of citizens and associations in local communities (the third media sector).