Swedish authorities are accused of taking children into custody on unclear grounds • Criticism: “International misinformation”
Al Jazeera has released a new documentary series, in which Swedish authorities are accused of taking children into custody on unclear grounds, something SVT reported on.
Among other things, it is portrayed as children being taken into care because they had dirty clothes or because the family has poor finances.
SVT writes that the documentary has certain similarities with the so-called LVU campaign a couple of years ago, a disinformation campaign in social media where Swedish authorities were accused of kidnapping Muslim children.
“Dangerous for Sweden”
In a post on X Kristersson criticizes the documentary and writes that it risks spreading the same misinformation as the LVU campaign did.
“This is dangerous for Sweden and also risks seriously damaging the important work of social services in helping the children who are really in harm’s way and need to be taken care of,” the Prime Minister writes in the post and continues:
“In Sweden, Swedish law applies to all children and all parents. Our social policy does not allow itself to be influenced by international misinformation or by those who simply do not like that Sweden’s legislation gives children their own rights”.
The Swedish Institute: Can influence the image of Sweden
In the series, among other things, a man is interviewed who states that his children were taken into care because the family is Romani, but according to documents that SVT has seen, it is instead that the children were subjected to psychological abuse and did not go to school.
The documentary is not only aimed at Sweden, but also at several other western countries. According to Sofia Bard, head of the unit for the image of Sweden at the Swedish Institute, it can contribute to a negative image of Sweden and affect Sweden’s influence internationally.
– We also know that it can have security consequences. We could see that in connection with the LVU campaign and the Koran burnings, she tells SVT.
“Be careful to counteract”
To The Express says Ulf Kristersson that he does not rule out that the documentary could contribute to strengthening the threat image against Sweden.
– That is why we are careful to counteract it. Both to tell how things really are, that we have continuous information against countries where we know that this type of influence often reaches us, and that we have authorities that follow this extremely closely on a daily basis, he says.