{"id":73994,"date":"2025-05-24T12:16:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T10:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/?p=73994"},"modified":"2026-05-29T09:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T06:07:34","slug":"sw-2025-05-24-swedens-disinformation-campaign-the-state-as-deceiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/sw-2025-05-24-swedens-disinformation-campaign-the-state-as-deceiver\/","title":{"rendered":"SW 2025.05.24 Swedens Disinformation Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" src=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Injustice-Belarus.webp\" alt=\"Abuse of Law, Legal Corruption, Law and Legal Coruption, Injustice in Belarus and Sweden\" class=\"wp-image-50521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Injustice-Belarus.webp 800w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Injustice-Belarus-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Injustice-Belarus-768x509.webp 768w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Injustice-Belarus-18x12.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/sw-2025-03-20-swedens-social-welfare-destroy-families-and-childrens-lives\/\"><strong>Authoritarian Rhetoric to Silence Critics<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sweden\u2019s Disinformation Campaign \u2013 The State as Deceiver?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>ABSTRACT<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the international stage, Sweden has consistently positioned itself as a stalwart of democracy, transparency, equality, and child protection. But recent events have challenged this image. Following Al Jazeera\u2019s documentary exposing alleged systemic injustices within Sweden\u2019s child protection services \u2013 specifically the controversial use of the Act with Special Provisions on the Care of Young People (LVU) \u2013 <strong>Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson responded not with transparency, but with condemnation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al Jazeera, one of the world\u2019s most established international news networks, was accused of spreading \u201cmisinformation\u201d and threatening Sweden\u2019s national security. This article explores the contradiction at the heart of Sweden\u2019s information policy and raises a fundamental question: <strong><em>Who is truly responsible for disinformation \u2013<\/em><\/strong> <strong><em>foreign actors or the Swedish state itself?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ulf-Kristersson-Maria-Malmer-Stenergard.webp\" alt=\"Disinformation Campaign, Ulf Kristersson, Maria Malmer Stenergard, Sweden, A Democracy in Decline\" class=\"wp-image-74028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ulf-Kristersson-Maria-Malmer-Stenergard.webp 980w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ulf-Kristersson-Maria-Malmer-Stenergard-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ulf-Kristersson-Maria-Malmer-Stenergard-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ulf-Kristersson-Maria-Malmer-Stenergard-18x10.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.svt.se\/nyheter\/inrikes\/ulf-kristersson-m-om-al-jazeera-dokumentaren-kan-bidra-till-att-hotet-mot-sverige-forstarks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sweden\u2019s prime minister has said that Al Jazeera documentary series on <br>children taken into social care poses a security threat to his country<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>&#8220;Sweden Mimics Authoritarian Rhetoric to Silence Global Critics&#8221;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This reaction warrants critical examination \u2013 not least because it demonstrates a dangerous conflation of state accountability with national security, a hallmark of the very regimes Sweden claims to oppose. If we hold Sweden\u2019s rhetoric against its actions, an unsettling question arises: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Is Sweden itself engaged in a state-sanctioned disinformation campaign to suppress legitimate criticism and avoid scrutiny?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Sweden\u2019s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson publicly denounced the internationally renowned media outlet Al Jazeera for spreading \u201cmisinformation\u201d about Sweden\u2019s social services, the rhetoric echoed a disturbing pattern increasingly common among authoritarian regimes: the reflexive attribution of critical scrutiny to foreign subversion rather than domestic accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YtxKavhpfjU?si=iT3ygvpxNwtNpylJ\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YtxKavhpfjU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sweden\u2019s prime minister has said that Al Jazeera <br>documentary poses a security threat to his country<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The criticism followed the broadcast of an Al Jazeera documentary highlighting how children, often from minority or migrant backgrounds, have been forcibly separated from their parents under Sweden\u2019s&nbsp;Law with Special Provisions on the Care of Young People&nbsp;(LVU). The response from the Swedish state was swift and striking \u2013<\/em> <em>not a transparent audit of the legal and procedural justifications behind such interventions,&nbsp;<\/em><strong><em>but a defensive campaign branding such journalism as a national security threat<\/em><\/strong><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Ironically, in accusing others of disinformation, the Swedish state may itself be engaging in a form of strategic narrative manipulation \u2013 a methodology not dissimilar to the practices it ostensibly opposes in regimes like Putin\u2019s Russia.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Manufactured Consensus and Institutional Deflection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The official statement published on 18 November 2022,<\/strong> titled \u201cDisinformation about Swedish social services on social media,\u201d employs a notably polished bureaucratic tone to assert that all children in Sweden are treated equally and in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The statement defends the LVU process as rigorously controlled, lawful, and professionally implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, this official portrait fails to address the core grievances raised not only by foreign media but also by Swedish citizens, civil society actors, and affected families themselves: that the LVU system is marked by systemic opacity, lack of due process, and an entrenched power asymmetry between the state and individuals \u2013 <strong><em>particularly immigrants and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups<\/em><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Government\u2019s assertion that \u201cdisinformation is being spread online and on social media\u201d is itself a sweeping generalization that discourages legitimate public scrutiny. The suggestion that all criticism stems from \u201cforeign actors\u201d and \u201cradical Islamist contexts\u201d presents a false binary: <strong><em>Either one supports the Swedish state unconditionally, or one is a tool of extremism<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Parallels to Authoritarian Narrative Control<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In language and tone, the Swedish state\u2019s response bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the mechanisms of narrative control employed by authoritarian regimes. The publication of government-sanctioned \u201ctruths,\u201d the suppression of independent investigative journalism, and the securitization of critique are hallmarks of democratic erosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Swedish Defense University\u2019s report, commissioned by the Psychological Defense Agency, goes further, describing the criticism of social services as <strong>\u201c<em>The largest influence campaign Sweden has ever faced<\/em>\u201d<\/strong>. The language of national emergency is deployed not to confront corruption or abuse within institutions, but to shield them from public examination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Statements from terror researcher Magnus Ranstorp,<\/strong> linking criticism of the LVU process to Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, lack clear evidentiary foundations in the public domain and serve primarily to delegitimize dissent through guilt by association. This strategy is not new \u2013 it mirrors Russia\u2019s and Belarus\u2019s repeated strategy of discrediting all opposition as externally orchestrated and extremist in nature.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Blind Spot \u2013 Structural Failures and Public Distrust<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The state\u2019s own commissioned research admits a fundamental problem: <em><strong>\u201cDistrust of Swedish authorities is not new\u201d<\/strong>.<\/em> This recognition, buried beneath the accusatory rhetoric, is crucial. Rather than acknowledging systemic shortcomings and failures to engage marginalized communities with transparency, Sweden has opted to pathologize public distrust as foreign interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The true vulnerability exposed by the so-called \u201cdisinformation campaign\u201d is not the influence of foreign actors<strong> \u2013<\/strong> it is the inability of the Swedish legal and administrative apparatus to respond with humility and democratic self-correction. In treating public concern as a threat, rather than a signal of democratic discontent, the state undermines its own legitimacy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>S\u00c4PO\u2019s Narrative \u2013 From External Threats to Internal Silencing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Swedish Security Service (S\u00c4PO),<\/strong> in its 2025 statement, further expanded this securitized framework. While acknowledging legitimate threats from Russia and extremist ideologies, the agency also noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/sakerhetspolisen.se\/ovriga-sidor\/other-languages\/english-engelska\/press-room\/news\/news\/2025-03-11-troubled-international-situation-poses-a-threat-to-sweden.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>\u201cAnti-state narratives and conspiracy theories could&#8230; develop into subversive activities\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The implication is clear: Criticism of the state may itself be considered a precursor to extremism. This reasoning transforms political discourse into a security threat and enables the preemptive targeting of civil liberties. <strong>When the state views critique as conspiracy, democratic debate becomes criminalized.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Discrediting the Discredited<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the Swedish government paints its critics as purveyors of falsehoods and extremism, it simultaneously demands unquestioned trust in its own narrative <strong>\u2013<\/strong> despite longstanding and well-documented institutional failures. In fact, the Swedish social services system has no consistent or independent international monitoring mechanism, and domestic legal remedies are structurally biased in favor of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, the overwhelming presence of secrecy (offentlighets <strong>\u2013<\/strong> och sekretesslagen) within child protection cases makes external scrutiny virtually impossible. Families are silenced under the guise of protecting the child\u2019s privacy, while the state retains control of the narrative. In such a context, accusations of \u201cdisinformation\u201d lose all meaning, <strong>as truth itself is state-defined.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion \u2013 Who Defines Disinformation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sweden faces a fundamental question:<\/strong> in a democracy, who has the authority to define \u201ctruth\u201d? When government institutions unilaterally designate criticism as \u201cdisinformation\u201d and discourage investigative reporting through securitized rhetoric, the line between democratic governance and authoritarian deflection begins to blur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is not Al Jazeera, but the Swedish Government that must answer for a disinformation campaign <strong>\u2013<\/strong> one cloaked not in viral memes or shadowy networks, but in press releases, academic reports commissioned by the state, and televised interviews by government-affiliated researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The true test of a democratic society lies not in the suppression of criticism, but in its ability to withstand, respond to, and learn from it. By vilifying its critics rather than engaging with their claims, the Swedish state risks becoming precisely what it claims to resist: an agent of deception.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.government.se\/articles\/2022\/11\/statement--disinformation-about-swedish-social-services-on-social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Government Offices of Sweden, \u201cDisinformation about Swedish social services on social media\u201d<\/em><\/a><em> 2022.11.18 EN<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fhs.se\/en\/swedish-defence-university\/news\/2023-05-10-lvu-campaign-highlights-vulnerabilities-in-society.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Swedish Defence University, \u201cLVU campaign highlights vulnerabilities in society\u201d<\/em><\/a><em> 2023.05.10 EN<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.svt.se\/nyheter\/inrikes\/ranstorp-om-hotkampanjen-det-har-bubblat-lange\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>SVT Morgonstudion, Interview with Magnus Ranstorp<\/em><\/a><em> 2024.01.31 SW<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sakerhetspolisen.se\/ovriga-sidor\/other-languages\/english-engelska\/press-room\/news\/news\/2025-03-11-troubled-international-situation-poses-a-threat-to-sweden.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>S\u00c4PO: Troubled international situation poses a threat to Sweden<\/em><\/a><em> 2025.03.11 EN<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/instruments-mechanisms\/instruments\/convention-rights-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 3 and 9<\/em><\/a><em> EN<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Author\u2019s Note:<\/strong><br>This article is a critical analysis of public documents and statements by Swedish authorities. It does not seek to deny legitimate security concerns, but to highlight the need for balanced, transparent, and rights-respecting governance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Democracy is not defined by the absence of enemies, but by how a state treats its own citizens and its critics.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u0410\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440:<br>\u041b\u0435\u043e\u043d (\u041d\u0438\u043a. \u0427\u0435\u0440\u043e\u043f\u0443\u043b\u043e\u0441)<br>Stockholm 2025.05.24<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Al Jazeera, one of the world\u2019s most established international news networks, was accused of spreading \u201cmisinformation\u201d and threatening Sweden\u2019s national security. This article explores the contradiction at the heart of Sweden\u2019s information policy and raises a fundamental question: Who is truly responsible for disinformation, foreign actors or the Swedish state itself?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,10,44,22,26],"tags":[97],"class_list":["post-73994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-work-by-leon","category-cornerstone-posts","category-key-documentation","category-news-articles","category-state-bodies-sweden","tag-sweden-democracy-in-decline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86128,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73994\/revisions\/86128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}