Flashback Media Group AB is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

media company that publishes magazines and books. It runs the website "Flashback". The company is best known for their online forum, Flashback Forum, whose

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

is "Yttrandefrihet på riktigt" ( en, Freedom of speech for real).

History

Flashback originates from the local

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

''Dead or Alive'' founded and published on 25 February 1983 by then 14-year-old Jan Axelsson in

Norrköping Norrköping (; ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Linköp ...

. It developed into multiple projects focusing on different aspects of subcultures; mainly punk, and changed its name to Flashback in February 1993. Flashback's website was first published in June 1995 as a big supporter of

copyleft Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, ''freedoms'' refers to the use of the work for any purpose, ...

. The company publishes "Scandinavia's biggest neutral newsletter" with over 120,000 subscribers on a monthly basis. The proclaimed goal is to express

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

opinions. The website has on multiple occasions been shut down by authorities and has been fined hundreds of thousands of SEK. In 2003, a trial in the Market Court ruled against Flashback Media Group AB and Jan Axelsson, determining that the forum had displayed illegal advertising for equipment for pirate decryption of cable TV, and ruling that the publishing company had not exercised sufficient editorial control over the content of the Flashback forum. As a consequence of the ongoing trial, the forum was shut down at the end of 2002. Flashback Media Group AB and Jan Axelsson were each fined 400,000 SEK on probation and were forced to pay the trial costs of 250,000 SEK. Flashback opened again in 2003. Between 2003 and 2010 it was based in England and owned by Flashback Enterprises Ltd. Since 2010 it is based in New York, USA and it is owned by Flashback International Inc. In October 2010 Flashback Media Group AB started Travel Forum, a travel website with articles, guides, reviews and discussions of travel-related content. Flashback Media Group also own a Swedish erotic literature site.

References

External links

Flashback.se

Flashback.org

Travel Forum
{{in lang, sv Mass media companies of Sweden Internet forums Companies based in Östergötland County