Newspaper Aftenposten reported the Norwegian government to have paid up to USD24.800 over the past three years for Facebook services.
Media researcher at the Institute for Social Research Kjersti Thorbjornsrud suggested “sponsored content can be problematic, because the administration should not pay for what is defined as political message.”
The majority of sponsored Facebook posts were job advertisements and campaign promotions, the ministries noted while speaking to Aftenposten.
Thorbjornsrud added “paid content should be linked to neutral information, such as job advertisements. But then there is always a question of when a message gets political overtones, for example when the ministries sell a message that the government or a minister does something good. The question is where to set the limits for payment, which we have not discussed properly yet.”
