Samhällsnytt (Society News) or Samnytt[1] is a Swedish right-wing populist[2][3] online news website founded in 2017. Oxford University's Internet Institute's Project on Computational Propaganda identified Samhällsnytt as one of the three primary "junk news" sources in Sweden, alongside Nyheter Idag and Fria Tider.[4][5][6]

History and activities

The site and its predecessors is said to have made an impact due to their "relentless reporting on immigrant crime".[1] Samhällsnytt is the successor to the news website Avpixlat ("De-pixelated"),[1][7][8] also closely linked to Kent Ekeroth.[9][10] Avpixlat was labeled a racist hate-site, xenophobic and right-wing extremist by Swedish and international media,[11][12] while describing itself as "an independent Sweden-friendly website for news and opinions".[13] The site leaned close to the counter-jihad movement and supported Israel.[14] Avpixlat was itself the successor to the news site Politiskt Inkorrekt ("Politically Incorrect"),[1][15] founded in 2008,[16] which also had close ties to Ekeroth[17] and the counter-jihad movement.[18]

  • In October 2021, the editor of the website Mats Dagerlind was sentenced to 40 daily fines, SEK2 30,000 in damages and SEK2 115,000 in legal fees for libel against a journalist at Dagens Nyheter. The conviction concerned Dagerlind describing the journalist of Syrian descent as a "suspected jihadist" with ties to the al-Nusra Front and al-Qaeda.[19][20]
  • In February 2024, Dagerlind was again convicted for two counts of libel and one count of aggravated libel, for a series of articles that accused a person of being reprehensible and criminal. He was sentenced to one month in prison and SEK2 20,000 in damages.[21][22]
  • Samhällsnytt has also been sued multiple times for libel[23] and theft of copyrighted material.[24]
  • At least one writer for Samhällsnytt was denied parliamentary press accreditation after being deemed a security risk due to ties to Russian intelligence, according to the Swedish Security Service.[25][26]
  • Samhällsnytt has been routinely criticised for unethical publications by Mediernas Etiknämnd.[27]

References

  1. ^ Widfeldt, Anders (2023). "The Far Right in Sweden". The Routledge Handbook of Far-Right Extremism in Europe. Kondor, Katherine & Littler, Mark (eds.). Taylor & Francis. pp. 198–199. doi:10.4324/9781003256892. ISBN 9781032187976.
  2. ^ "Högerpopulistisk tidning döms för grovt förtal av DN-journalist" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 4 October 2021.
  3. ^ Lundqvist, Mathilda (7 July 2023). "Polisen Filip Pelas delar högerpopulistisk artikel på Instagram" (in Swedish). Nyheter24
  4. ^ Jack Stubbs, Johan Ahlander (2018-09-06). "Exclusive: Right-wing sites swamp Sweden with 'junk news' in tight election race". Reuters. Archived 2024-06-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-06-30. The top three "junk news" sources identified by the study - right-wing websites Samhallsnytt, Nyheter Idag and Fria Tider - accounted for more than 85 percent of the "junk news" content.
  5. ^ "Mapping the 2018 Swedish General Election on Twitter". University of Oxford. 2023-10-08. Archived from the original on 2024-06-30. Retrieved 2024-06-30. The most frequently shared junk news sites — Samhällsnytt, Nyheteridag, and Fria Tider — accounted for 86% of all junk news shares.
  6. ^ Meaker, Morgan (2018-09-09). "Inside the online disinformation war trying to tear Sweden apart". Wired. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  7. ^ "Kent Ekeroth byter Avpixlat mot ny sajt" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 4 September 2017.
  8. ^ Linderoth, Sam (5 September 2017). "Expo: "Kan handla om att sopa igen spåren"" (in Swedish). ETC
  9. ^ Larsson, Mats J (28 June 2013). "Kent Ekeroth medger koppling till Avpixlat" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  10. ^ Strandberg, Martin (18 November 2013). "Ekeroth upptaxeras för Avpixlat" (in Swedish). Sydsvenskan. Archived 22 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ^ Wiman, Erik; Sandberg, Mattias; Sköld, Josefin (15 November 2012). "Ekeroth gör hatet möjligt" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet
  12. ^ Strømmen, Øyvind (10 December 2013). "Hate posts tied to politicians". Hate Speech International
  13. ^ "Avpixlat har fått utgivningsbevis" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 3 June 2014.
  14. ^ Bevelander, Pieter & Petersson, Bo (2015). Crisis and Migration: Implications of the Eurozone Crisis for Perceptions, Politics, and Policies of Migration. Nordic Academic. ISBN 9789187675294.
  15. ^ Hamrud, Annika (5 December 2011). "Man kan inte ha respekt för en lag där det är okej att kalla svenskar idioter" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter
  16. ^ Habul, Kenan. "Hatbloggare: "Skicka allt ni vill ska spridas"" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 23 February 2024.[dead link]
  17. ^ Dickson, Staffan (26 June 2011). "SD-politiker bakom Politiskt inkorrekt" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet
  18. ^ Poohl, Daniel; Hannus, Martha; Lagerlöf, David; Brunila, Mikael; Andersson, Li; Koivulaakso, Dan (2012). "Organiserad intolerans i Finland och Sverige" (in Swedish). Expo. p. 15.
  19. ^ Rådegård, Isabella (29 December 2021). "HD fastställer förtalsdom mot Samnytts ansvarige utgivare" (in Swedish). SVT
  20. ^ Nesser, Johannes (4 October 2021). "Mats Dagerlind döms för grovt förtal av DN-journalist" (in Swedish). Journalisten
  21. ^ Lundberg, Oscar (19 February 2024). "Samnytts ansvarige utgivare döms till fängelse för förtal" (in Swedish). SVT Bakgrunden till domen är en artikelserie där sajten, som nyligen lämnade det medieetiska systemet, publicerat uppgifter om en person i den numera nedlagda föreningen Näthatsgranskaren. Samnytt har pekat ut personen som klandervärd och brottslig, vilket ligger till grund för att Stockholms tingsrätt dömer Mats Dagerlind för två fall av förtal och ett fall av grovt förtal. ()
  22. ^ "Samnytts ansvariga utgivare Mats Dagerlind döms till fängelse" (in Swedish). Journalisten. 19 February 2024.
  23. ^ Lundquist, Hanna (2024-01-09). "Klimataktivist förtalsstämmer Samnytt" (in Swedish). Journalisten. Archived 2024-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-09. I en stämningsansökan inlämnad till Stockholms tingsrätt i förra veckan stämmer en klimataktivist i organisationen Återställ Våtmarker Mats Dagerlind för tre fall av grovt förtal ()
  24. ^ Asplund, Mathias (2014-06-05). "Stulna klipp kan bli kostsamt för Avpixlat" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Archived 2023-06-01 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  25. ^ Becker, Jo (2019-08-10). "The Global Machine Behind the Rise of Far-Right Nationalism". The New York Times. Archived 2019-08-10 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-09. For instance, one writer for Samhallsnytt, who previously worked for the Sweden Democrats, was recently declined parliamentary press accreditation after the security police determined he had been in contact with Russian intelligence.
  26. ^ "Putilov nekas riksdagsackreditering" (in sv-SE). Journalisten. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2025-04-25.
  27. ^ Nesser, Johannes (2024-02-05). "Dubbelfällning av Samnytt för publiceringar av namn" (in Swedish). Journalisten. Archived 2024-02-27 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2024-07-09. Samnytt (tidigare Avpixlat) har som Journalisten rapporterat lämnat det medieetiska systemet efter en rad fällningar i Mediernas Etiknämnd. ()