TV Channel Criticized – Used Photo of Family with Children in Report about Social Welfare

In connection with the government and the Sweden Democrats proposing a welfare reform last year, TV4 used a photo of a family to illustrate the news. The family did not appreciate this and filed a complaint with the Media Ombudsman.

It was in September 2025 that TV4 reported on the Tidö government’s proposal, which would mean that social welfare would be tightened most for larger families with children. The segment was published in TV4 News, on tv4.se, as well as on TV4’s TikTok and YouTube accounts.

The Tidö government pointed out that an irresponsible migration policy had led to social exclusion and that a welfare ceiling could help to break that development. “Effort must always pay off” was a quote from the Minister for Elderly and Social Insurance, Anna Tenje (M), that was also included in the image.

The segment featured several different families with children, and one of these families—the version that ended up on TV4’s TikTok and YouTube accounts—was a family photographed from behind, showing a mother and two children with a stroller.

They Were Shocked

In the complaint, the woman’s husband wrote that his wife and two children had been photographed without their knowledge, and the picture had been used by TV4 News for a story. After the segment aired, the family was contacted by several people who recognized them and asked about the picture. They were reportedly shocked when they saw it. The family did not receive social welfare and felt they had been wrongly singled out.

TV4’s lawyer, Ann-Sofie Andersson, points out that the photo showed a woman and two children from behind and that there was no information about the people in the photo or details about where it was taken. The image was used in a TikTok segment and on YouTube Shorts as an illustration along with several other images of families with children. It was sourced from TT’s image service and appeared when searching for “families with children.” The image was not used in the segment on tv4.se.

It was assessed that it was not possible to identify the people in the photo and that it was unfortunate if the family nevertheless felt singled out. The image was later unpublished.

TV4 Reprimanded

According to the Media Ombudsman, the context in this case was clearly negative and “being featured in such a context can be sensitive and violate personal integrity, especially if the information is incorrect.”

The question is whether the family was pointed out in such a way as to be identifiable in the publication. The media argues that no people are visible from the front in the photo and that it does not show where and when it was taken. The complainant, on the other hand, has stated that several people recognized the family and contacted them, including people from the children’s school. I have no reason to doubt the complainant’s information in this matter.

I understand that there was no intention on TV4’s part to single out individuals in a harmful context, and it is good that the media acted and unpublished the image afterwards. Even though only a very limited group could identify the family, I consider the context to be of such a harmful nature that the media cannot avoid criticism.

The Media Ethics Committee shares the Media Ombudsman’s assessment and reprimands TV4 for having breached good journalistic practice.