Evidence: Social Democrats ordered the creation of troll factories

It was the political party Social Democrats, not their wholly-owned company AiP Media, that ordered the creation of several so-called troll accounts on social media. This is evident from annual reports that Samnytt has gained access to.

According to the annual reports for AiP Media, a so-called ‘digital offensive’ was launched during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. And it is the owner, namely the Social Democrats, who pay for it.

‘During the year, the company has also continued to receive additional resources from the owner to develop new channels and methods to digitally disseminate journalism to new target groups,’ reads the 2020 annual report.

At this point, it is not yet clear what this initiative entails.

Created troll accounts

However, the details of the party’s digital offensive become clearer the more annual reports one reads. The 2021 report makes it clear that the Social Democrats consider themselves to be performing poorly on social media and therefore turn to their wholly-owned company AiP Media to address the issue.

‘This provides the company with good opportunities for an offensive effort aimed at breaking the current weak trend,’ reads the report from that year, which clearly emphasizes that it is the Social Democrats behind it.

A year later, in 2022, the annual report provides more precise details on what the digital offensive consists of: ‘Among the titles published as part of this initiative are Morning Newspaper and Simultaneously in Sweden,’ reads the report.

Simultaneously in Sweden is a Facebook account that spreads so-called memes about political opponents. Morning Newspaper operates the Instagram account ‘Damn third world,’ which has collaborated with another account that spreads anti-Semitism.

Both accounts meet the Social Democrats’ own criteria for being so-called troll accounts and are part of an environment of similar accounts.

Several full-time employees

According to the annual reports, several people work full-time at the Social Democratic troll factory. The exact number is not specified, but according to the figures from the annual reports, it is likely that the majority of the employees at AiP Media are involved.

When the Social Democrats halve their support for the ‘digital offensive’ in 2023, it leads to two people being assigned other tasks, while a third employee is laid off due to lack of work.

According to the 2024 annual report, the ‘digital offensive’ continues that year with financial support from the party. However, it is not clear how many people are currently working on it. Nevertheless, it can be inferred from last year’s annual report that a journalist was laid off, while a new employee was hired ‘to work with digital production.’

In addition to the purely troll factory-classified social media accounts, AiP Media also operates sites such as Morning Newspaper and Politics Check. They have also been criticized for the lack of clarity regarding whether the Social Democrats are behind them. Furthermore, the Social Democrats spread political propaganda through these accounts in a way that is suspected of violating a new EU law.

From the Social Democratic perspective, it has been claimed that AiP Media has so-called ‘editorial independence’ and is not controlled by the party. These are claims that are contradicted by what is reported in the annual reports.