This is how the police want to take back the internet: "Could be a game changer"

From large-scale fraud and the gangs' recruitment of young shooters to drug sales and the distribution of child pornography.

Almost all crime today has a digital component. Nevertheless, the Norwegian Police Agency has worse tools to stop crime online than offline. This was confirmed by a government investigation last summer.

Therefore, a new law was proposed which will give the police, customs and Säpo greater opportunities to act. The authorities must be allowed to get into, among other things, telephones, servers, databases and storage services - without it being counted as a data breach.

- In many ways it would be a game changer in the fight against crime, says Niclas Andersson, head of investigations at the police's national operational department.

Once inside, the police must have the mandate to block access to websites, change passwords and either encrypt or delete content.

Niclas Andersson gives an example.

- Today we can see a guy spreading nude pictures of his ex-girlfriend in a cloud service, but we have no legal option to delete it or to make the material inaccessible through encryption.

He also points to crimes committed within organized crime, such as fraud carried out on an almost industrial scale from call centers abroad.

The police not only believe that the legislation would curb online crime, if the tool had been in place when gang violence shook Sweden, it would have been possible to slow down the wave of violence, according to Niclas Andersson.

- We could have reduced the advertising of the violent missions and the meetings between instigators and executors. We could definitely have prevented a large number of violent crimes.

The law is proposed to enter into force on 1 July 2027 and is now out for consultation.

The power that Niclas Andersson highlights is also what critics warn about. Stockholm University points out that the authorities are proposed to be allowed to make far-reaching interventions, without any external control.

Most measures must be taken by the police entirely on their own, through specially appointed executives. For the most intrusive, such as deleting content, the authority needs a decision from prosecutors.

Niclas Andersson emphasizes that the police must be proportionate when using the law, just as when using violence in the physical world.

At the same time, there is a point in that interventions do not have to wait for court proceedings because the aim is to prevent crimes that occur here and now.

- These are efforts that must go very quickly. Otherwise, it will also be ineffective.

Today's legislation has not kept up with the digital development, states the police chief. It has turned the web into a place that the authorities cannot access, where criminals can operate freely.

- The public expects us to step in and break up a fight in town. But when it comes to cybercrime, we don't have those capabilities.