In the summer of 2014, police chief executive in Norway, Odd Reidar Humlegård, held a press conference where he announced that Norway was under a specific threat from terrorist. Armed police were seen patrolling the streets, and Norwegian border control was strengthened. A week later, the terrorist threat was called off. Nothing had taken place. Was the terror alert without a cause? asks Rune Ottosen, member of MEKK, and professor in journalism.
This was also the title of the article he presented at the conference Journalism in a World of Terrorism, that took place in Kalmar, Sweden, the 9th to the 11th of May.The article is a study and analysis of the Twitter feed in Norway during the possible terror threat in July 2014. There was a lot of speculation about who the terrorist was, says Ottosen, but contrary to July the 22end, there were few unjustified allegations against Muslims. On the other hand, there was speculation about whether the threat was overestimated by the authorities in order to obtain a pretext for police to use armed forces permanently.