However, after Nasjonal Samling suffered a large defeat in the 1936 Norwegian parliamentary election, effort dwindled and it was an obscure, weekly newspaper.

This ended on 15 April when Quisling was intermittently deposed and the Administrative Council was installed, but the newspaper continued to prosper under Nazi rule.

It had certain competitors in that many existing newspapers were usurped by Nazis, including Aftenposten, and they brought the same kind of news as Fritt Folk.

A prerogative for Fritt Folk was that Norwegian businesses and companies were forced to advertise in the newspaper, which boosted the economy.

[4] The newspaper sometimes criticized decisions made by Nasjonal Samling, especially under its last editor (1944–1945), Odd Erling Melsom.