Joakim Wallerstein denied the troll accounts – six years ago

Joakim Wallerstein denied the troll accounts six years ago
share-arrowShare

unsaveSave

Already in 2012, when Joakim Wallerstein was employed by SD, the plan was clear: Online campaigns with anonymous senders.

In an interview with Aftonbladet in 2018, he denied that the party continued to run anonymous pages – something that was discovered to be untrue.

At the same time, SD continues to purge content that can be linked to the white power environment on its sites.

  • Joakim Wallerstein, head of communications for the Sweden Democrats, planned to conduct anonymous online campaigns already when he was hired in 2012.
  • Wallerstein denied in an interview in 2018 that the party ran anonymous pages, similar to those that “Cold facts” have now revealed.
  • After this was revealed, the Sweden Democrats have started to purge content linked to the white power environment on their sites.
  • ⓘ The summary is made with the support of AI tools from OpenAI and quality assured by Aftonbladet. Read our AI policy here.

    Show more

    chevron-down

    When communications manager Joakim Wallerstein was hired by the Sweden Democrats in 2012, it was a big step for him.

    The recruitment was handled by SD leader Martin Kinnunen, who had conducted no less than three interviews with Wallerstein, who had been told about his vision for the party’s continued communicative strategy.

    Even then, the plan to conduct anonymous opinion polls was clear.

    “He wants to place particular focus on working with various forms of campaigns, both more traditional and campaigning in social media. He wants to work more with online campaigns, which in any case initially have anonymous senders,” Kinnunen wrote in an email to the top party, which Aftonbladet has seen.

    expand-left

    full screen Joakim Wallerstein, Jimmie Åkesson and Richard Jomshof. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

    Jimmie Åkesson was informed

    Wallerstein was also able to contribute with “basically finished educational material for media training and other communicative guidance that he developed for clients of his current employer,” Kinnunen wrote in the email.

    However, Wallerstein wanted a pay rise as he “burns all bridges in his former industry”.

    Recipients of the email included party leader Jimmie Åkesson and others in the “gang of four” Björn Söder, Mattias Karlsson and Richard Jomshof.

    In the coming years, communication from the Sweden Democrats shows how Joakim Wallerstein is driving and buys advertising space on Facebook for pages such as “Politically Incorrect, “Rape Map” and “Moderatcitat”.

    expand-left

    full screen Martin Kinnunen and Björn Söder. Photo: Leif R Jansson/TT

    But in 2018, that would be the end. The Sweden Democrats’ communications department would not push opinion via anonymous pages.

    At least that’s what Joakim Wallerstein said in an interview with Aftonbladet, and denied that anonymous pages such as “Politiskt Inkorrekt” are any longer run.

    – We simply don’t have time. However, we support and give material to pages we like, he said in the interview.

    Why are you not open with which sites you help?

    – In an ideal world, we could list who we help, but it doesn’t work that way in Sweden. Whistleblowers are suspected. That’s why we don’t tell you which sites we help.

    You see no principled problem with pushing opinion under a false name?

    – No, not in principle. If you are a small party, you don’t have many options other than to drive public opinion in different ways, said Joakim Wallerstein in 2018.

    Clears hate material

    The Sweden Democrats are no longer a small party, but the fact that they continue to run anonymous accounts and sites became apparent after Kalla Fakta’s review of the party’s communications department and its work.

    There it emerged that “Politically Incorrect” has continued to be run by employees of the communications department.

    After Kalla Fakta’s disclosure, the Sweden Democrats have started cleaning up their pages.

    The account “Mememumriken” has published clips in which political opponents are ridiculed, while fascists and terrorists have been praised.

    From the account “alexanderbardposting” the white power meme “White boy summer” was published, which has been used by the racial ideological environment for several years, according to Expo.

    Footnote: Aftonbladet has sought Joakim Wallerstein through SD’s press department for a comment.

    afbl-general-01