A Swedish television network revealed today (14/5) that the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) party, which supports the government, has used around 20 anonymous social media accounts to smear the opposition and majority leaders .
A reporter for TV4’s investigative show Kalla fakta (“Raw Facts”, in Swedish) identified 23 social media accounts believed to be controlled by the far-right party’s communications service during a months-long hidden camera investigation.
In addition, the party used artificial intelligence to attribute to politicians statements they had never made, such as the false statements about gangs allegedly made on a TikTok account by opposition leader Magdalena Anderson.
After the first revelations of this investigation, the first episode of which was broadcast on May 7, a lot of criticism has been leveled against Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson and his government, who are accused of not wanting to take concrete steps to bring the far-right party before the his responsibilities.
“Christerson shows that he does not care about protecting Swedish democracy from the constant sabotage of the Sweden Democrats. He is not ready to risk the support of the SD and therefore his own position as prime minister,” Dagens Nyheter newspaper points out in an opinion piece.
The investigation shows that accounts were also used against the other parties in the SD-backed coalition government. One of those accounts posted a video mocking Liberal Party leader and Labor Minister Johan Persson.
In a conversation with a TV4 journalist, an employee of the party’s communication service himself talks about the organization of a “troll factory”.
Christerson called on the far-right party to answer questions about these “dangerous practices”.
“I am categorically opposed to slander against political opponents and opposition parties. I am categorically against troll accounts, this can become very dangerous,” the head of government said during a press conference together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“I expect serious answers, to be able to show what exactly happened and to apologize if they defamed other people,” he added.
For his part, far-right party leader Jimmy Okeson called the investigation an “inside influence operation,” in a YouTube video.
Sources: APE-MPE, AFP
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