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The attack is said to have been broadcast on Facebook Live
The men, aged 18 and 20, were arrested over suspicion of aggravated rape in the city of Uppsala where the incident is said to have happened after local police were tipped off by users of the social media site.
A third man was also arrested, a 24-year-old Swedish man, who was detained on suspicion of failing to reveal the rape after it was shown on Facebook Live, according to court documents seen by Swedish newspaper The Local.
As yet none of the three, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, have been charged.
According to local media reports all the men deny the charges.
The lawyer for the 20-year-old, Christer Söderberg said: “A woman is said to have been raped in an apartment. He is suspected of that.
“He denies any criminal offence, he has given in my opinion a perfectly coherent story about what happened.
“I cannot go into details, but he has told me in a way that is not contradicted by anything else.”
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Footage seems to show a gun being held to the woman's head
Andreas Wein, the defence lawyer for the 24-year-old man, stated: “I have seen stronger evidence in my days.”
Witnesses who saw the attack take place online said that the victim had her clothes pulled off by armed men and was then sexually assaulted before the police stormed the apartment and turned off the camera, having been tipped off about the incident.
Witness Josefine Lundgren, 21, called the police immediately when she tuned into the live footage.
She said: "He pulled her clothes off and lay on top of her."
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The Swedish city of Uppsala
Another online witness told Expressen: “I first thought it was a poorly orchestrated joke."
"The first thing you think is: ‘How can you do such a thing to a girl? And how can you do it live when you know that you are going to go there?’
"I think of course it is screwed, totally sick.”
The officer in charge of the investigation Ivan Aslund said: "We cannot comment on anything at the moment.
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The scenic city of Uppsala where the attack is said to have happened
"A preliminary investigation has begun and there is full confidentiality".
Police have launched an investigation and forensic experts are examining the apartment.
Uppsala's deputy chief prosecutor Magnus Berggren said that investigators have been able to get hold of certain still images and footage, but are still working to find the particular video sequence allegedly showing the rape.
He said: "In order to get as a clear a picture as possible we are questioning people who have at least seen parts of the live streaming on Facebook.
"A film would of course have been central evidence, but there is also other evidence.”
The prosecutor leading the investigation Pontus Melander said that they had asked the social media giant for help to retrieve the video.
"Facebook has said that they want to cooperate, but they are based in the US so we need international legal aid, which I have requested.”
A spokesperson for Facebook said: “This is a hideous crime and we do not tolerate this kind of content on Facebook.
“We take our responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook very seriously. Our Community Standards regulate what kinds of content can be shared on Facebook. Our teams work around the clock to review content that is being reported by users and we have systems in place to ensure that time sensitive content is dealt with quickly.
“The vast majority of people are using Facebook Live to come together and share experiences in the moment with their friends and family. But if someone does violate our Community Standards while using Live, we want to interrupt these streams as quickly as possible when they're reported to us. So we've given people a way to report violations during a live broadcast.
“We support local law enforcement who make data requests related to criminal investigations, particularly when it comes to the safety of young people. We respond to valid requests relating to criminal cases.”
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