Media|Anti-NATO and EU opinion pieces have been sent in the names of Swedish-sounding people. The articles have also been reviewed in Finnish and Swedish media.
Under false names written opinion pieces favorable to Russia have been published in the Swedish-language media, says the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet (HBL).
Several Swedish media published an editorial in the public section in the spring, which opposed the use of Gotland in national defense. The author was “Mikael Petersson”, who declared himself to be from Gotland.
The Swedish Broadcasting Corporation’s program found out that no person with that name lived at the address given by the author. The author’s identity could not be confirmed, and the posts have since been removed.
Other opinion pieces have also been sent to the Swedish media using fake identities, demanding that Sweden leave NATO and reduce its support for Ukraine.
Similar has also happened in Finland.
In July, HBL published a text that, according to the author, “the conversion law would have catastrophic consequences for Åland and the Finno-Swedes”. The opinion piece has since been removed.
An article was also sent to the newspaper, according to which the EU should not intervene in salmon fishing in the Red Sea. The author appeared as “Fredrick Mickelsson”, but his identity could not be confirmed. HBL did not publish the text, but it was passed in several Swedish-language magazines.
In the background can be a single person or a group, says the head of the NATO Strategic Communications Center Max Arhippainen for HBL. It is not necessarily the Russian administration directly behind the writings but, for example, one of its supporters.
The published texts are not special in themselves, but what is essential is why they are sent. The purpose is to confuse readers and thus weaken the ability to make decisions, Arhippainen explains.
He reminds us that similar things happen to a much greater extent online.
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