Swedish hospitality falls victim to misinformation online
There are a lot of Sweden haters out there. Or rather, many people with time on their hands and possibly a little help from people and groups who want to harm Sweden. Within just a couple of days, a bizarre Reddit post about Swedes not eating their guests dinner became an internet phenomenon – even though there’s no research to back it up. Other countries can learn from the mysterious Swedengate and how easily misinformation can spread, even when there is no nefarious actor behind it, just simple gullibility.
“What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to do at someone else’s house because of their culture/religion?” a new Reddit poster asked in May. Another user responded that “I remember going to my Swedish friends. And while we were playing in his room, his mom yelled that dinner was ready. And check this. He told me to WAIT in his room while they ate. The where the shit was fucking wild.” In no time, the comment went viral on Reddit, then on Twitter, then on Instagram. People start writing in with comments about how strange and inhospitable Swedes are. An Instagram post added one Map which illustrated how stingy northern Europeans are, with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and parts of northern Germany marked a terrifying dark red.
“Swedengate” quickly became a topic and migrated to mainstream media, with newspapers eagerly reporting on this previously unknown aspect of Swedish culture. “A Swedish child sits at a dinner table while his friend and his friend’s parents eat meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce. The delicious aroma wafts under the child’s nose, but there is no plate for him New York Times reported. “This environment, although quite normal in Sweden and other Nordic countries, has alarmed people around the world, shocked to learn that some Swedish families do not invite their children’s visiting friends to eat with them at meals.”
There are a lot of Sweden haters out there. Or rather, many people with time on their hands and possibly a little help from people and groups who want to harm Sweden. Within just a couple of days, a bizarre Reddit post about Swedes not eating their guests dinner became an internet phenomenon – even though there’s no research to back it up. Other countries can learn from the mysterious Swedengate and how easily misinformation can spread, even when there is no nefarious actor behind it, just simple gullibility.
“What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to do at someone else’s house because of their culture/religion?” a new Reddit poster asked in May. Another user responded that “I remember going to my Swedish friends. And while we were playing in his room, his mom yelled that dinner was ready. And check this. He told me to WAIT in his room while they ate. The where the shit was fucking wild.” In no time, the comment went viral on Reddit, then on Twitter, then on Instagram. People start writing in with comments about how strange and inhospitable Swedes are. An Instagram post added one Map which illustrated how stingy northern Europeans are, with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and parts of northern Germany marked a terrifying dark red.
“Swedengate” quickly became a topic and migrated to mainstream media, with newspapers eagerly reporting on this previously unknown aspect of Swedish culture. “A Swedish child sits at a dinner table while his friend and his friend’s parents eat meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce. The delicious aroma wafts under the child’s nose, but there is no plate for him New York Times reported. “This environment, although quite normal in Sweden and other Nordic countries, has alarmed people around the world, shocked to learn that some Swedish families do not invite their children’s visiting friends to eat with them at meals.”
The case also provided opportunities for debate posts. In the UK is Independent, a Swede named Linda Johansson, who is neither a reporter nor a sociologist but runs an Etsy shop, weighed in and said: “I’m Swedish – it’s true that we don’t serve food to guests. What’s the problem?” She presented no data documenting this alleged habit.
Unfortunately, the New York Times forgot to investigate whether the social media posters’ claims were actually true, instead relying on unconfirmed information, such as a tweet by pop star Zara Larsson. (The project’s reporter is a general assignment reporter based in New York City and has no Swedish expertise.). In fact, there are no studies that show that Swedes fail to give dinner to guests more often than anyone else.
Although many posters on social media claimed to have felt left out of the dinner, countless Swedes were baffled by the allegations. (Which should be well known by now, just because a claim is on social media doesn’t mean it has to be true.) Like other Swedes, I have never been fed when visiting friends or acquaintances. And without scientific documentation of the practice, it is as credible to infer from various social media allegations that failure to feed guests is a national habit as it is to claim, for example, that former US President Donald Trump won the 2020 election because someone said it on YouTube.
Many Swedes tried to take the puzzling campaign on the chin. “I liked the thread r/AskBalkans where Greeks and Bulgarians and Turks put aside their genocidal dreams to conclude that Swedes are bloody weird,” said one Reddit user. Another shared that “tonight we had the neighbor’s five-year-old here, who had dinner with us after playing with my five-year-old. Now I understand that it was a mistake. Next time he gets to stay in my child’s room.” Another asked: “Is [Russian President Vladimir] Will Putin use this as a pretext for an invasion? “It all started with the friend who didn’t get dinner…”
Then the odd food post took a darker turn, when social media accounts that apparently belonged to real people began complaining that Swedes not only fail to feed their guests, but are also racist. That’s when some analysts began to worry. After all, Sweden had just begun the process of joining NATO, frustrating a country with a history of turning domestic tensions into information warfare – or invent them completely.
“A seemingly innocuous thread on Reddit that quickly goes viral and turns into a campaign of hate and threats, where Sweden is called racist,” summed up Anton Lif, a Swedish communications consultant who specializes in misinformation and disinformation. “This may be part of the general public discourse, and it may be entertaining to some, but a hostile group or country may also take advantage of [of] a viral phenomenon. And this type of media phenomenon can benefit different actors.” Sweden’s new Psychological Defense Agency reviewed the case and determined that the campaign had not been initiated by a hostile state. (The agency is only responsible for countering campaigns of foreign malign influence.)
Swedengate is just the latest example of smear campaigns directed at Sweden. The Reddit post may have started out as harmless fun, but it was quickly taken over by people who had no problem spreading rumors and blowing them up by adding new unverified information and outright lies. Strategists in Moscow, Beijing and beyond could sit back and let the stupidity and laziness of social media users do their job for them. As I emphasized in a new part for Foreign policy, Sweden was the target of a disinformation campaign that claimed Swedish social services kidnapped Muslim children. Like Swedengate, it did considerable damage to the country’s reputation – and like Swedengate, it presented no evidence to support the allegations. “Even if Swedengate is not instigated or coordinated by a hostile country, Sweden’s image could take a hit,” Lif noted.
But even if it was more likely the result of random nonsense than targeted vitriol, Swedengate should prompt some self-examination among those who shared the content. One of the first viral spreaders of the original post turned out to be a repeat participant in propaganda and general rubbish. While Beijing or Moscow are unlikely to pay the poster, he or she is certainly not a reliable source of information. (In the Swedish Social Services kidnapping allegations, the Psychological Defense Agency found that the original spreader was linked to the Islamic State.) As for the map that documented Northern Europe’s lack of hospitality, the poster is sheepish admitted“I admit that the research that was done was not extremely professional and that the significance of the colors may have been exaggerated so that it almost looks as if the Norse never give food, which of course is not always true.”
While the people who post various complaints about Sweden are obviously entitled to do so, Swedengate is a sad story of the damage that unverified allegations can cause. Which country, organization or person will be targeted next? It can be any country, any organization, any person. Think and verify. Quirky fairy tales aren’t just harmless fun.