Right-wing websites swamp Sweden with 'junk news' ahead of Sunday vote

One in three newsarticles shared online about the upcoming Swedish election comes from websites publishingdeliberately misleading information,most with a right-wing focus on immigration and Islam, Oxford University researchers say.

Their study, published on Thursday, points to widespreadonline disinformation in the final stages of a tightly-contested campaign which could mark a lurch to the right in one ofEurope's most prominent liberal democracies.

The authors, from the Oxford Internet Institute, labelledcertain websites "junk news," based on a range of detailed criteria. Reuters found the three most popular sites theyidentified have employed former members of the Sweden Democratsparty, whileone has a former MP listed among its staff.

It was not clear whether the sharing of "junk news" hadaffected voting intentions in Sweden, but the study helps show the impact platforms such as Twitter and Facebookhave on elections, and how domestic or foreign groups can use them to exacerbate sensitive social and political issues.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, whose centre-left SocialDemocrats have dominated politics since 1914 but are now unlikely to secure a ruling majority, told Reuters the spread offalse or distorted information online risked shaking "the foundations of democracy" if left unchecked.

'Significant part of the conversation'

The Institute, a department of Oxford University, analyzed275,000 tweets about the Swedish election from a 10-day periodin August. It counted articles shared from websites itidentified as "junk news" sources, defined as outlets that "deliberately publish misleading, deceptive or incorrectinformation purporting to be real news."

"Roughly speaking, for every two professional contentarticles shared, one junk news article was shared. Junk news therefore constituted a significant part of the conversationaround the Swedish general election," it said.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the results ofthe study.

Incorrect and biased reporting promotes a harder, harsher tone in the debate, which makes it easier to throw in disinformation and other deceptive tools.- Mikael Tofvesson, Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency

Facebook, where interactions between users are harder totrack, said it was working with Swedish officials to help votersspot disinformation. It has also partnered with Viralgranskaren an arm of Sweden's Metro newspaper to identify, demote andcounterbalance "false news" on its site.

Joakim Wallerstein, head of communications for the SwedenDemocrats, said he had no knowledge of or interest in the partysympathies of media outlets. Asked to comment on his party'srelationship with the sites identified by the study, he said hehad been interviewed by one of them once.

"I think it is strange that a foreign institute is trying tolabel various news outlets in Sweden as 'junk news' and release such a report in connection to an election," he said.

'Deceptive tools'

Swedish security officials say there is currently noevidence of a co-ordinated online attempt by foreign powers to sway Sunday's vote, despite repeated government warningsabout the threat.

But Mikael Tofvesson, head of the counter-influence team atthe Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), a governmentagency tasked with safeguarding the election, said thewidespread sharing of false or distorted information makescountries more vulnerable to hostile influence operations.

"Incorrect and biased reporting promotes a harder, harshertone in the debate, which makes it easier to throw in disinformation and other deceptive tools," he said.

Lisa-Maria Neudert, a researcher from the Oxford InternetInstitute's Project on Computational Propaganda, said most ofthe "junk news" in Sweden supported right-wing policies, and waslargely focused on issues around immigration and Islam.

The top three "junk news" sources identified by the study right-wing websites Samhallsnytt, Nyheter Idag and Fria Tider accounted for more than 85 per cent of the "junk news" content.

Samhallsnytt received donations through the personal bankaccount of a Sweden Democrat member between 2011 and 2013 when itoperated under the name Avpixlat. A former Sweden Democratmember of parliament, who also previously ran the party's youthwing, is listed on the Samhallsnytt website as a columnist.

Pork ban a case in point

Samhallsnytt often publishes articles saying Sweden is underthreat from Islam. In June, for example, it said a youth soccertournament in the second-biggest city had banned pork as "haram" or forbidden under Islamic law. The article is still onlinewith the headline: "Islam is the new foundation of the GothiaCup pork proclaimed 'haram.'"

A tournament organizer told the Dagens Nyheter newspaperthat caterers had not served pork for more than 10 years forpractical reasons, and there was no ban against eating orselling pork at the event.

Samhallsnytt and Fria Tider did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

If you are doing a tabloid you cannot have dry, boring headlines, it should have some punch to it. But we do not lie, we do not make false accusations.- Chang Frick, founder ofNyheterIdag

Commenting before the Oxford study was published, NyheterIdag founder Chang Frick disputed the "junk news" label and saidhis website followed ethical journalistic practices, citing itsmembership of Sweden's self-regulated Press Council body.

"Yes, we put our editorial perspective on news, of course,like everyone else," he said. "If you are doing a tabloid you cannot have dry, boring headlines, it should have some punch toit. But we do not lie, we do not make false accusations."

Facebook said its work with Viralgranskaren to fact checkcontent on its sites helped it quickly identify "false news."

The company declined to give specific figures about theamount or sources of false news it had recorded around the Swedish election, but said any flagged content is given a lowerposition on its site, a practice known as "downranking" which itsays cuts views by 80 per cent. Users who see disputed articlesare also shown other sources of verified information, it said.