C-leader refuses to criticize S-comrades' troll factory

When the debate was raging about the alleged ”troll factory” of the Sweden Democrats, the tone was high and it was said, among other things, that it was a threat to democracy. But when the Social Democrats have now been revealed to engage in similar activities, the tone is completely different.

Center Party with then party leader Muharrem Demirok demanded that the Security Service or the police should investigate the Sweden Democrats’ ”troll factory”.

– Every question mark should be clarified, said Demirok in May 2024.

– It was you [M, KD and L] who let hatred into Swedish politics. It is you who have given the keys to the government offices to Jimmie Åkesson. It is you who are now responsible for cleaning this up.

– Now the question to you: when the hell is enough?

The same month, Linus Sköld (S) addressed Erik Slottner (KD) in a written question in the parliament ahead of the EU election:

What measures does the minister intend to take to ensure that the content in social media is not characterized by politically biased disinformation?

In an opinion piece, Åsa Wikforss, professor of theoretical philosophy at Stockholm University, claimed that the Sweden Democrats are ”undermining Swedish democracy by spreading hate, lies, and conspiracy theories online and on social media through anonymous accounts”.

”Natural”

When S-leader Magdalena Andersson comments on her own party’s havoc online, she responds that it is ”natural”.

– Using humor in politics is nothing new and nothing unusual, she says.

While Magdalena Andersson takes it all in stride, Moderate Party Secretary Karin Enström is less amused.

”The Social Democrats’ own troll factory has now been exposed, with misleading accounts, fictitious neutral sites, and party-related companies used to bypass regulations and conceal the sender. This is not open political debate but conscious manipulation. Previously, they targeted the elderly to deceive them with lotteries. Now they are targeting the young,” Enström writes to TV4 News.

Even Minister for Civil Contingencies Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) is furious.

– Not only are they running meme accounts that make fun of political opponents without clear labeling, they have also set up platforms that provide information about politics with the aim of appearing neutral but which clearly are not, he tells TV4.

Center Party debacle

While Muharrem Demirok demanded that the Security Service or the police should be involved when it came to the Sweden Democrats, the new party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist seems to take a much lighter view of the Social Democrats’ online trolling.

In an interview with state television that has received a lot of attention on social media, the C-leader repeats the same phrase several times when asked about the activities of the Social Democratic comrades: