Following reports of an offer of 150,000 SEK to influencer Eleonore Stokholm and Hanif Bali’s police report, pressure is mounting on the Social Democrats. Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) demands that the party disclose which agencies and intermediaries have been used, what assignments they were given, and the communication with influencers. At the same time, the person who contacted Stokholm has given a different version of events to SVT.
As Samnytt previously reported, influencer and TV personality Eleonore Stokholm claims she was offered 150,000 SEK for an Instagram post in which she would explain why people should vote for the Social Democrats. She claims to have declined the offer. The Social Democrats have categorically denied that the party pays influencers to promote its views.
The story has since grown. Former Moderate MP Hanif Bali has filed a police report regarding the matter, citing the regulation on undue influence in voting. According to Chapter 17, Section 8 of the Swedish Penal Code, it is a crime to unduly influence a vote, and the law also criminalizes receiving or requesting an undue benefit for voting in a certain way. However, this does not mean that payment for political advertising is illegal in itself – what matters, among other things, is the conditions attached to any possible remuneration.
Bohlin: Disclose the Agencies
On Friday, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Moderate and Minister for Civil Defence, also weighed in on the debate. “Now it’s time for full transparency from S,” he writes.
Bohlin notes that the Social Democrats deny the allegations but argues that the party’s denial is not sufficient. He demands that S disclose which agencies the party has hired, exactly what orders were placed with any intermediaries, and what subsequent communication has occurred with influencers.
According to the minister, the party should therefore not only answer whether the Social Democrats’ own organization has directly paid anyone. He also wants to know whether external companies or agencies have been given assignments that subsequently led to contacts with social media figures.
Bohlin explicitly asks whether the use of an intermediary could allow the Social Democrats to formally deny involvement, even though an assignment could ultimately come from the party. However, no evidence has yet been made public that this has happened in Stokholm’s case.
New Information from the Person Behind the Contact
Since Samnytt’s initial articles, new information has also emerged. Eleonore Stokholm tells SVT that she was contacted in April via telephone by a person who claimed to work with influencers. Stokholm thus never had any direct contact with the Social Democrats.
SVT has also spoken with the person who contacted Stokholm. This individual presents a different account and claims that it was all a misunderstanding. According to this person, there was no concrete offer of 150,000 SEK; instead, the conversation was about exploring whether Stokholm might be interested in political collaborations if such were to arise during the election year.
The Social Democrats’ party secretary Tobias Baudin goes beyond the party’s previous written denial and promises that S does not pay digital creators.
– We never pay money to collaborate with creators. If collaborations occur, it’s solely of their own free will. We do not pay money, Baudin tells SVT.
At the same time, Baudin accuses ministers who have spread the information of passing on disinformation.
References to S’s Previous Actions
However, Bohlin argues there are reasons to demand more than a verbal denial and refers, among other things, to the Social Democrats’ previous work with influencers.
Before the 2018 election, Aftonbladet revealed that the Social Democrats in Stockholm had hired the influencer network Beatly to explore paid collaborations. One of Aftonbladet’s reporters was offered 4,000 SEK for a photo and three video clips, while bigger influencers, according to Beatly, could receive more than 10,000 SEK. After the newspaper’s inquiries, S chose not to proceed with the arrangement.
Bohlin also brings up last year’s revelations about the Social Democrats’ media company AiP Media. TV4 reported that political content was spread through accounts where the connection to the party was not always clear. The Social Democrats referred at that time to the fact that the operation was run by AiP, which, according to the company’s own presentation, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Social Democrats.
It is against this background that Bohlin now wants to see documentation rather than further denials. He believes that the new allegations “approach the line of vote buying,” and that the Social Democrats should therefore disclose the entire chain of any assignments, agencies, and contacts.
So far, however, the statements stand against each other. Stokholm says she was offered 150,000 SEK, whilst the person who contacted her denies any concrete offer was made. The Social Democrats, in turn, deny the party pays influencers. The remaining question is therefore who initiated the contact with Stokholm, on whose behalf it occurred, and how the amount of 150,000 SEK came up in the conversation.