Political views: The Daily Mail reports that National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told public broadcaster NRK that the suspected gunman's internet postings "suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but if that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen." Furthermore, the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang quoted a friend as saying Breivik became a rightwing extremist in his late 20s.

Frank Mersland, a journalist with FVN TV, says Breivik has been linked to the anti-immigration Progress party. He wrote to The Guardian via email:

The suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, has been tagged as a former member of the right winged political party Frp (Progress party). It's the second largest political party in Norway and their main issues are lower taxes and a much stricter policy on immigration. The Frp-leader, Siv Jensen, verified his membership on Norwegian TV2 a little while ago.

Apart from his anti-immigration policies, the Daily Mail and Fox News report that Breivik also argued that socialism was breaking down traditions, culture, national identity and other societal structures and that this in turn made society weak and confused.

Interests: Fox reports that according to his recently set-up Facebook page, Brevik claimed to be well read and a fan of Norwegian World War II hero Max Manus. He listed his favorite books as "The Trial" by Franz Kafka and "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell, and his favorite television show as the serial killer show "Dexter." Among his other interests he listed founding and developing organizations, freemasonry, working, gaming, partying, and fitness.

The Guardian also notes that he was a fan of violent video games who, as some former neighbors told the Norwegian media, had sometimes been seen in "military-style" clothing. The sole tweet on his Twitter account was one by philosopher John Stuart Mill, that said, "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

Education and employment: The BBC reports that Breivik is believed to have grown up in Oslo, and studied at the Oslo School of Management, which offers degrees and post-graduate courses. He later appears to have moved out of the city and established Breivik Geofarm, a company Norwegian media is describing as a farming sole proprietorship set up to cultivate vegetables, melons, roots, and tubers. However, The Guardian posts that Breivik's earlier businesses were not much of a success, each one of them being dissolved after a short while after making a loss until he established his farm business in 2009 and moved out of Oslo.

Personal life: Breivik described his relationship status as single, according to Fox. The Daily Mail writes that media reports in Norway described Breivik as a "loner," who lived with his mother in a wealthy suburb of west Oslo.