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Tuesday, December 29, 2020

The Suppression of Free Speech in Sweden


"During the 2018 election campaign, Justice Minister Morgan Johansson (S) called on Google and Facebook and urged them to conduct "voluntary" internet censorship on behalf of the State. Also at the meeting was then Expressen editor-in-chief, Thomas Mattsson, who promised to provide the IT-giants with information about "which dark forces are found here and who threatened democracy". In clear text: Which alternative media should be opposed."


This past week, it was reported that Google shut down the YouTube channel of SwebbTV, which is a conservative, alternative news channel in Sweden. In response, 5 other alternative news sites (listed below) shut down their own sites on Tuesday (12-29-20) in protest against what they see as an attack against freedom of expression. The accusation becomes even more serious when you consider that IT giants like Google, Facebook, and others receive financial considerations from the Swedish government. It is also alleged that Google took action against SwebbTV at the behest of the Social Democrat party in power and its prime minister, Stefan Löfven .

Today, the concerned alternative sites showed the below message on their respective screens in Swedish. (Translation into English by Fousesquawk). The original link to the screen seems to be gone, but I will post it as soon as I can retrieve it. The respective sites are up and running again. Most of these sites, including SwebbTV, are linked on Fousesquawk either under "Foreign News Outlets" or "Our Real European Allies".

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#SwebbTV

The day before Christmas Eve, Google shut down the Swedish opposition YouTube channel, SwebbTV, which has 65,000 followers. The channel has a publishing certificate, responsible publisher, and is covered under the Freedom of Expression law.

The closure was preceded by a number of measures from the Swedish government. 

First, the government pushed through a reduction of electricity tax for Google and Facebook from 41.38  öre/kilowatt per hour to 0.5 öre/kilowatt per hour which households pay. (100  öre=1 Swedish krona). In addition, Google has received economic support through the government's electrical certification system, and together, the (PM Stefan) Löfven government's subsidies to both companies amount to billions.

During the 2018 election campaign, Justice Minister Morgan Johansson (S) called on Google and Facebook and urged them to conduct "voluntary" internet censorship on behalf of the State. Also at the meeting was then Expressen editor-in-chief, Thomas Mattsson, who promised to provide the IT-giants with information about "which dark forces are found here and who threatened democracy". In clear text: Which alternative media should be opposed.

 Since the shutting down of SwebbTV, Morgan Johansson has (denied) his own responsibility but at the same time, has given his full support for Google's action.

"It is up to YouTube to determine what they let stay up on their platform," he said to DN (Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter) yesterday.

In other words: If Google wants to sabotage opposition media in a country where the government gives them billions in subsidies, that is nothing we want to involve ourselves in."

In other words:

This attitude is unacceptable in a democratic country. 

Within the US Justice Department, legislation is now being prepared that will prohibit Google and other IT giants "from censoring lawful expression in bad faith, with a statement that they are violating their own user terms".  Even in the stronghold of free enterprise, those in power thus recognize the fact that Morgan Johansson refuses to acknowledge: That the daily formation of opinion occurs digitally, and that IT-giants control the infrastructure which each individual needs to be able to take advantage of his freedom of expression.

In the run-up to the election campaign, for the first time, there are now signs that the government will try to completely close down several alternative media. The risk is not in new legislation that bans us, rather that the government utilizes State-supported companies like IT-giants and banks to keep us from services that are necessary to conduct our activity.

We who represent the largest alternative media in Sweden are closing our websites today in protest against the government's handling of SwebbTV. At the same time, we are making the following joint statement.

1 We demand that the government immediately take measures to ensure the constitutional protections of freedom of expression online, in particular with the publicly-financed platforms, Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

2 We give our full support to the Sweden Democrats' decision to pursue the issue in the Swedish Parliament and urge all members (of Parliament), regardless of party color, to independently work for freedom of expression-also in a digital time. 

3  We appeal to the public to take part in the fight for freedom of expression through voting for members who pursue issues of freedom of expression and by keeping an eye out for demonstrations, petitions, and other measures for freedom of expression which may come in the future.

(signed)

Erik Almqvist, Editor-in-chief,  Exakt24

Chang Frick, Edito-in-chief,  Nyheter Idag

Mats Dagerlind, Editor-in-chief,  Samhällsnytt

Widar Nord, Editor-in-chief, Fria Tider

Vavra Suk, Editor-in-chief, Nya Tider


 
 
 

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