Today [July 10] in Sweden:

Forssell: "Jag sitter kvar som minister"

[machine translation]

Forssell: "I Am Still a Minister"

Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) now speaks out about his son who, according to the newspaper Expo, has links to a right–wing extremist environment.
– As a father, you are shocked, you are horrified. You ask yourself what is true and what is not true, he says to TV4.

The minister whose close relative has been revealed to have links to the extreme right is now speaking out about the situation on TV4's Nyhetsmorgon.

– I have a deeply remorseful 15–year–old, who has just turned 16. We have spent a lot of time on long, difficult conversations. It has not been easy, but this activity is over, says Johan Forssell.

Forssell says he does not intend to resign but will remain in the government as Minister for Migration.

– "I will continue to take responsibility. As a father to my children, I am fully committed to implementing the policy for which we have received the support of the Swedish people. I think it is very important that this work continues.

Parental Responsibility

Forssell says that he was contacted by SÄPO a couple of weeks ago.

– "I knew nothing when Expo contacted me," Forssell tells the TV channel.

According to Expo, which has reviewed chats and posts on social media, the son has tried to recruit people to a white power organization and participated in activities with the Nazi and pro–violence Active Club Sweden.

As Minister for Migration, Johan Forssell has emphasized the responsibility of parents in the debate on youth violence in society. He was asked on TV4 how he views his parental responsibility for the incidents.

– I do not think that parental responsibility has in any way become less important as a result, quite the contrary. I am absolutely convinced that it is a cornerstone of a good society. But parental responsibility does not mean that things will always be right. Sometimes it goes wrong.

Johan Forsell is asked if he is self-critical when it comes to his own parenting.

– "Of course I wish it hadn't been this situation. I think all parents who have children and understand the situation we are in now also realize that.

Not Seen Anything

Expo says it has been monitoring Johan Forssell's son for some time and has followed his social media posts. The minister follows his son on social media, but says he has not seen any of the right–wing extremist posts. In a post on Instagram, Forssell writes that his son's socializing "in all the wrong circles" started last year, when his son started 9th grade.

– "I want to be clear that I have not seen any of this on social media. Then of course I would have reacted. But I have not done that, he says to TV4.

Johan Forssell is asked if he is grateful for Expo's review, so that he received this information about his son.

– Yes, I think it is important that these environments are examined. I think they are bigger than many people realize. These problems must not be allowed to grow. My main focus is to address the situation at home with my child.

– But I also think that a very big discussion will follow from this. How many parents know about this and what we are talking about? I think that is very important.

Speculation

Forssell is also asked why he is coming forward now, a week after the information in Expo was published.

– "There has been a lot of speculation. And it is of course not a desirable situation. This whole thing, everything that comes at you… Honestly, a minor having his personal information posted on social media by extremists with very detailed, very threatening information.

– In that situation, you don't have much choice but to try to be as transparent as you can. But it's clear that this is not easy when it comes not only to me as a politician but also to my family and my children.

The Left Party has summoned Forssell to the Social Security Committee in the Riksdag to "lay the cards on the table" regarding his and the government's handling of the issue, something that the Social Democrats and support.

– "I know that there are other parties that want to score political points on this. If they want to do that, they can do it. But for me, this is primarily a task for me as a father. That's how I see it. It has guided me in everything.

Sources:  GöteborgsPosten, Expo, TV4, SÄPO, Active Club Sweden, Left Party, Social Democrats, Green Party

My Comment:  The only thing Forsell regrets is that they got caught. Hypocrites—all part of the circus.

——————————————

Håkan Boström: När pressetiken åkte i soptunnan.

[machine translation]

Håkan Boström: When Press Ethics Went In the Bin

The fact that a teenager without public positions has worked in extremist environments is not a reason to indirectly point him out in public in front of the whole of Sweden. This regardless of who his father is.

Until a few days ago, the major media houses in Sweden were in agreement. They would not name the minister whose then 15–year–old son hung out in white power circles. The reason was not consideration for the minister but for the minor, who is not a public figure. "It is out of consideration for the relative who is a minor. That concern trumps the public interest," said, for example, Judit Ek, deputy editor–in–chief of SVT Nyheter to her own channel (SVT 8/7).

Neither did Expo, which exposed the minor's social media activities and membership of a far–right martial arts club. Then something happened. A local newspaper in Norrland broke the consensus. The Left Party, a party that is itself riddled with extremist links, announced that it had summoned the minister in question to a parliamentary committee so that "the government would lay its cards on the table". S and Mp supported this. Expressen and several other newspapers then named the Minister for Migration Johan Forsell and thus indirectly his son. Forsell himself has now spoken out about the matter on TV4.

"This is a sordid story in several ways. The fact that the young son has expressed reprehensible values is obviously very bad. It is clear from the Expo's investigation. But he has not been convicted or even suspected of any crime. Above all, we are talking about a high school student with no public office whatsoever.

The reactions to the revelation from adults in positions of responsibility actually show a moral collapse. The excitement and gloating against the government has been rampant from the political opponents. When the media houses finally succumbed to the pressure, they turned themselves inside out to defend the decision to throw the principles of press ethics into the dustbin.

Expressen let the newspaper's columnist, Professor of Church History Joel Halldorf, lead with a defense speech for the publication. Under the headline "Forsell's harsh words hit him personally", the theologian claimed that the government's policies are now hitting back at the migration minister. He mentioned tougher requirements for juvenile criminals, proposals to evict families if underage family members commit serious crimes, and that "bad behavior" that includes extremist links could be a basis for deporting non–citizens.

You can think what you want about these proposals. But they have nothing to do with the ethical question of whether to hang the minister's teenage son. As I said, it was out of consideration for the son that the major media houses agreed not to publish his name, not out of consideration for the minister. If you disagree with the proposals, you should also disagree with the hanging of the son. Two wrongs do not make a right. Halldorf, who quotes Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the text, is of course aware of this. Jesus' message is not revenge. The argument to interfere with government policy falls completely flat even if you ignore things like the fact that the government is targeting serious organized crime and that non–citizens actually have no obvious right to be in the country if they do not behave.

Another bogus argument put forward in the debate is that it would be a security risk that a minor relative of a minister has moved in extremist circles. No one has been able to specify what that security risk is. According to the minister himself, he has spoken to his son, and the son has expressed regret. Could a foreign power use this for blackmail purposes? Obviously not if press ethics are working properly. And if not, is there any limit to what the media can publish about relatives of those in power? Alcohol and drug abuse? Sexual debauchery? Infidelity? In the past, we have had ministers whose relatives have behaved reprehensibly in various ways without the media writing about it because they are not public figures. Are all the floodgates open now?

Other journalists try to shift their own moral responsibility onto the government's handling of the issue. The left–wing newspaper ETC's editor–in–chief, Andreas Gustavsson, for example, argues that it was the government's own "foul play" that led to the publication of the names. That the minister refused to answer questions, that the Moderates' deputy party secretary called up Västerbottens–Kuriren after their name was published. Again. What does this have to do with the decision to hang out a non–public teenager? After all, the government made the same assessment as the major media houses themselves. It is unreasonable that the activities of a single teenager should become national policy just because he happens to be related to a person in power. Politicians are of course entitled to express opinions on publications.

The actions of the opposition and the media on this issue are not primarily about protecting the public interest. The opposition and its allied opinion leaders have pushed hard to damage the government, some so blinded by their self–righteous fight against evil that it did not matter that the target was a high school student who will now forever be stigmatized in Swedish public life. The media houses that spearheaded the publication have above all shown weakness in standing up for their own principles. What is the value of press ethics if the most misguided local newspaper editor in the country is allowed to set the bar for everyone else?

The result of all this is that Sweden has taken another step towards the Americanization of the public sphere, where no human considerations stand in the way of targeting political opponents. One's own family can now be turned into a weapon against any elected politician.

Sources:  GöteborgsPosten, SVT, Expo, Left Party, Social Democrats (S), Green Party (Mp), Expressen, ETC, Västerbottens–Kuriren

My Comment:  Narrative spin.

——————————————

Today [July 9] in Sweden:

UK: Fel av regeringen och Forssell att lägga locket på.

[machine translation]

Ulrika Knutson: Wrong Of the Government and Forssell To Put a Lid On It

The issue of Johan Forssell's family's links to right–wing extremist groups raises delicate publicity and political problems. However, it is already clear that covering it up was a poor method, writes Ulrika Knutson.

Caspar Opitz is the public's Media Ombudsman. Should we envy or lament the exciting tasks that lie ahead for him? Trap or free, was the question. How will Opitz deal with the media that have published the name of the minister, the minister with a close relative who participated in activities with a far–right club?

The answer is not crystal clear. The question of the minister's young relative's involvement in violent and extreme right-wing circles raises many delicate problems, both in terms of publicity and politics.

Refraining from publishing the name of a very young, non–public person is good journalistic practice. Even if the teenager's relative is very much a public figure, a member of the government. It could be argued, however, that there is a public interest in knowing which minister is involved. But the classic consideration of the risk of a young person suffering serious publicity damage outweighed this, in the view of all major media publishers.

For a full week after Expo's revelation about the minister and the family member, the media held that line. Anyone who wanted to pry further into the family relationships had to look on Flashback.

Respect for anonymity took some strange forms. The most remarkable was the statement made by the—then anonymous—minister to TT: "I have had long and frank conversations with the minor who is both remorseful and sad. All socializing in these circles is a closed chapter".

The minister went on to say that he had no knowledge of the teenager's nearly one year of activity in right–wing extremist circles, which seemed somewhat unbelievable, given that, according to Expo, he had been one of the recipients of one of the young family member's social media accounts for just as long. Since becoming aware of the matter, he had worked "closely with the Security Service".

Otherwise, the minister concerned, the prime minister and other members of the government had consistently rejected all follow-up questions from the media. Either by not answering, or by passing the question on to another minister, like a hot potato. Some editors grumbled unhappily, but relative calm prevailed.

In retrospect, one wonders how the government handled the crisis, or was it hoped that the issue would blow over and disappear of its own accord? More and more editorial pages recalled that the government had promised to take tougher action against disruptive children who hung out in criminal circles.

On Monday, Västerbottens–Kuriren got tired of the secrecy and published the minister's name. The worst outcry came from the Moderate party secretary Martin Borgs, who called up VK's publisher Marcus Melinder and scolded him.

Melinder thought, with some justification, that this was odd behavior. Perhaps Borgs had wanted to keep a lid on it, but instead he dropped the lid, which rolled out across the country with a bang. Newspaper after newspaper rushed to Melinder's defense and published the minister's name, after the Left Party demanded a hearing of Forssell in the Social Security Committee of Parliament.

How the minister and his affected family, as well as the government concerned, intend to handle the crisis, I do not know, but they will have to think of something clever. Putting the lid on it was a lousy and now exhausted method. In retrospect, party secretary Martin Borg's phone call to VK will probably appear to be really embarrassing, a crude attempt at pressure.

Media ethics is a delicate matter, which must be mutually nurtured by the press and politics, at least as long as we still have freedom of expression.

Sources:  GöteborgsPosten, Media Ombudsman, TT, Västerbottens–Kuriren

"Respect for anonymity took some strange forms."

Ulrika Knutson

Today [July 4] in Sweden:

Svår balansgång för regeringen efter Expos avslöjande.

[machine translation]

Difficult Balancing Act For Government After Expo's Revelation

Following Expo's revelation, the government is once again forced to balance security issues and the fact that a revelation steals attention from their agenda, according to several political scientists.

The magazine has revealed that a young close relative of a minister was part of the violent right.

– "It could lead to a crisis of confidence, but I don't see any risk of a scandal yet," says political scientist Sten Widmalm.

The close relative has been involved with the Nordic Resistance Movement and participated in activities with the right–wing extremist network Aktivklubb Sverige. The police suspect that the network is mapping government officials in order to exert influence.

Stealing Attention From the Government Agenda

Jonas Hinnfors, professor emeritus of political science, says the revelation risks becoming a burden for the government. According to him, the work against extremism has been a profile issue for the government, which puts the revelation in a different light.

– If an image starts to emerge that the minister is softer than in general, the opposition can pick up on this and use it against the government," says Jonas Hinnfors.

Generally, it is negative for political parties when an event steals attention from the topics the party wants to discuss.

– It happened yesterday (Thursday), Gunnar Strömmer was forced to talk about this at a press conference," says Jonas Hinnfors.

The Moderate Minister of Justice then said that SÄPO had alerted the government to the information.

According to the political scientist, if the revelation attracts too much attention, it risks affecting the minister's position in the government.

– "If the government's message is obscured, the minister may have to be sacrificed. But we are not there yet, he says.

Expert: Risks Of Reacting To All Security Threats

Sten Widmalm, professor of political science at Uppsala University, believes that the government is mainly focusing on the security issue after the revelation. "There is a risk that ministers in this situation will be blackmailed or threatened by foreign powers.

Widmalm researches how society can address security issues while remaining democratic, open and free. He describes it as a difficult balancing act.

– "If we react to all security threats all the time by restricting freedoms, you realize that there won't be much freedom left. It's not long before you've done the bidding of a foreign power by overreacting.

At the same time, the government must act based on the fact that security threats have become more numerous and more serious over the past decade.

– It is a very difficult situation to balance and some freedoms cannot be maintained when the threats become numerous.

Sources:  SVT "News", SÄPO, Expo, Nordic Resistance
                    Movement, Aktivklubb Sverige

Interesting Words:  Revelation, Agenda, Political Science, Crisis of Confidence, Political Scientist, Right–Wing Extremist Network, Government Agenda, In a Different Light, Steals Attention, Expert

Just a thought:  Deflection, Projection, Propaganda, Weasel Words, etc.

And the Truth—if you can see it.

——————————————

Ministern: Tar avstånd från all politisk extremism.

[machine translation]

Minister: Distances Himself From All Political Extremism

Expo revealed on Tuesday that a close relative of a government minister was active in the extreme right. "I abhor all forms of political extremism," the minister said in an initial comment to TT.

According to Expo, which has reviewed chats and posts on social media, the close relative of the minister has tried to recruit people to a white power organization and participated in activities with the Nazi and pro–violence Active Club Sweden.

The activities are said to have taken place over the past year, starting last fall.

Since the revelation, representatives of the government have been tight–lipped about the incident, citing the fact that the relative is a child.

Wants To Remain Anonymous

The minister himself now comments on the information in a written comment to TT, which comes via Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's deputy press officer Hanna Strömberg. Strömberg does not tell TT which minister it is: the minister wishes to remain anonymous in view of the relative's young age.

"Last week, I learned that a close relative in her early teens has been hanging out in all the wrong circles. I abhor all forms of political extremism and strongly distance myself from it," said the Minister:

"I have had long and frank conversations with the minor who is both remorseful and sad. All socializing in these circles is a closed chapter".

"Acted Immediately"

The minister wishes to remain anonymous and the government does not want to confirm which minister it is, citing the sensitivity of the matter due to the young age of the relative.

The Minister goes on to say:

"Since I became aware of this, I have immediately acted according to the security procedures in place. I have worked closely with the Security Service."

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) has not commented on the matter.

Sources:  GöteborgsPosten, TT, Expo, Active Club Sweden

   

Interesting Words:  Minister distances himself, Tight–lipped, The minister wants to remain anonymous and the government does not want to confirm.

Just a thought:  Controll of Narrative, Deflection, Projection, Propaganda, Weasel Words, etc.

And the Truth—if you can see it.

That's it, now you now what you know.

Imagine someone who thinks the above is OK. So sad!