Sweden Democrat troll factory spread white power propaganda

The Sweden Democrats shared white power material via several of their anonymous social media accounts, reports anti-racism magazine Expo, after a TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary revealed that the far-right party operates a troll factory. The troll factory is closely tied to the party’s communications department, and appears to be designed to promote anti-immigration views and smear opponents.

One account published content featuring Nick Fuentes, a US white supremacist who often praises Hitler, said Expo. Other accounts spread so-called ecofascism, an ideology based on defending the white race’s according to them perceived right to a natural habit. The accounts also glorify the Unabomber, whose bombing attacks between 1978 and 1995 killed three people in the US and injured almost two dozen.

The party told Expo that the white power posts were removed because they had been “flagged up by TikTok” and were “created by a junior member of staff who didn’t understand what kind of content he was spreading”. It didn’t comment on the ecofascism or Unabomber posts.

Swedish vocabulary: a troll factory – en trollfabrik

Government coalition in crisis talks over Sweden Democrat troll factory

The Sweden Democrats on Thursday had a crisis meeting with the other three parties that make up the government coalition, after the TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary revealed that not only does its troll factory smear political opponents, but also its allies.

The Sweden Democrats are not formal members of government, but support them in parliament in accordance with the so-called Tidö agreement struck after the election.

One clause in the Tidö agreement, frequently invoked by the Sweden Democrats themselves, states that the four right-wing parties should treat each other with respect, and the other parties quickly criticised some of the troll factory posts as obvious violations of the agreement.

The Sweden Democrats after the meeting conceded that they had gone too far and apologised for some of the posts, but insisted they would not close down any of their anonymous accounts, as had been demanded by the Liberals, who also make up the Tidö coalition.

None of the other seven parties in the Swedish parliament operate anonymous social media accounts, they told public broadcaster SVT.

Party secretary Mattias Bäckström Johansson said they would delete 45 posts about the other Tidö parties.

“We agree on some of the posts and their tone and that they are not in line with the respect clause in the Tidö agreement,” Swedish news agency TT quoted him as saying. He said they had apologised for these posts, but added: “We don’t apologise for our method.”

The Sweden Democrats had until the publication of the TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary repeatedly denied the existence of a troll factory, despite persistent rumours as well as an in-depth exposé by the left-wing newspaper ETC in the run-up to the 2022 election.

Swedish vocabulary: to apologise – att be om ursäkt

Stockholm police investigate suspected shooting near Israeli embassy

Police were in the early hours of Friday investigating a suspected, but unconfirmed, shooting in central Stockholm.

An area around Djurgårdsbron, Nobelparken and the Oscar Church was cordoned off and several people were being held early in the morning, although police declined to say how many had been taken into custody and on what grounds.

Israel’s embassy is located in the area, although police declined to say whether or not it was the target.

“Police officers who were at Strandvägen heard something they suspected was a shooting at around 2am. It’s not yet confirmed, but a large area has been cordoned off and we have several people in custody who are believed to be connected to it,” a police spokesperson told TT.

Swedish vocabulary: to cordon off – att spärra av

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

A Swedish court of appeal upheld a decision by the district court to throw out a request by US car manufacturer Tesla to force the Swedish Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates, on the grounds that a general court does not have jurisdiction in this case.

The district court and court of appeal argued that Tesla should instead have taken its complaint to an administrative court (förvaltningsdomstol) rather than a general court (allmän domstol). According to the rules regulating the Transport Agency’s role in issuing licence plates in Sweden, their decisions should be appealed to an administrative court – a separate part of the court system which tries cases involving a Swedish public authority, rather than criminal cases or disputes between individuals which are tried by the general courts.

The dispute arose after postal service Postnord, in solidarity with a major strike by the Swedish metalworkers’ union, refused to deliver licence plates to Tesla, and the Transport Agency argued it wasn’t their responsibility to get the plates to Tesla in some other way.

The strike against Tesla has been going on for almost seven months.

Swedish vocabulary: a licence plate – en registreringsskylt or en nummerplåt