The liberals want to punish the Sweden Democrats financially, with penalty fees of many millions of kroner, if the party continues to use anonymous accounts on social media. This is evident from a proposal that TV4 Nyheterna has seen. The proposal will be taken up at an all-party meeting of the parliamentary transparency committee next week.
The revelation of cold facts about how the Sweden Democrats systematically use anonymous accounts to mock political opponents has provoked very strong reactions. And the Liberals have already said that such practices should be banned.
But SD has not backed down and now the Liberals are sharpening their tone even further.
In a proposal, which TV4 Nyheterna received from a source, it appears that the Liberals want to punish the Sweden Democrats financially if they continue to use anonymous accounts.
The Liberals write in their proposal that:
“It is of the utmost importance that citizens know who finances or spreads a political message in order to be able to make informed decisions.”
And the Liberals believe that it is harmful to democracy to form opinions under a false flag.
“If it is not possible to find out who is behind a certain message or a certain campaign, then there is also no one to demand responsibility from, no one for the voters to vote out and no one to review. The entire system for exacting responsibility is rounded off.”
Financial penalty
Therefore, the Liberals want to supplement a new ban on anonymous accounts in the parties’ communications by simultaneously introducing significant financial penalties for parties that break the rules.
According to the Liberals’ proposal, repeated violations should lead to the party being forced to pay up to 10 percent of its annual turnover in penalty fees.
The Sweden Democrats had total income of just over SEK 133 million in the latest annual report from 2022. There could therefore be penalties of around SEK 13 million for SD if the Liberals’ proposal goes through.
The proposal will be taken up in the parliamentary committee appointed to examine how the public’s transparency in the financing of the parties should be strengthened. At a meeting on Wednesday next week.