Progressive MP Vigdís Hauksdóttir called for a boycott of ads in a newspaper which spoke poorly of her, prompting the Journalists Union of Iceland (BÍ) to condemn “attempts to suppress freedom of expression.”
Vísir reports that Vigdís has been less than happy with the newspaper Kvennablaðið (The Women’s Paper), in part because of their article “Vigdís’ Fountain of Wisdom”, wherein some of the MP’s more choice remarks are displayed for comedy purposes.
Writing on her Facebook page, she encouraged the cosmetics company EGF to “stop buying advertisements in this medium that attributes itself to women”.
She reminds her followers that the editor of Kvennablaðið is Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir, who happens to be the wife of actor Stefán Karl Stefánsson. Stefán recently responded to remarks from Independence Party MP Elín Hirst that Vigdís was the victim of “bullying”, with the actor saying Elín does not know what bullying is.
Whilst Stefán and Elín have since buried the hatchet, Vigdís clearly has not. Her remarks calling for a boycott of the paper drew a fast response from BÍ, who said they “condemn all attempts to suppress opinions and freedom of expression. … Freedom of expression does not just mean making your own opinion heard, but also respecting the opinions of others.”
Vigdís has not responded to BÍ at the time of this writing.
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