Sweden has launched a new governmental agency aimed at bolstering the country’s “psychological defence” and countering misinformation.
Called the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency, it was launched with a new website on Saturday.
“The purpose of psychological defence is to safeguard our open and democratic society, the free formation of opinion and Sweden’s freedom and independence,” the website states in a page describing its mission.
The website added that the misleading information they are looking to combat “can be disinformation aimed at weakening the country’s resilience and the population’s will to defend itself or unduly influencing people’s perceptions, behaviours and decision making.”
The agency, which is based in Karlstad, explained that misleading information can “create anxiety, heighten hatred and doubt and make society more vulnerable.”
They also warned that many people who repeat misinformation online are unaware that they are inaccurate, and that it’s important to be critical of sources when sharing information online.
“Actors in and outside Sweden with an agenda to damage confidence in Sweden and its open democratic society use methods such as anxiety and polarizing societal issues as a platform for this,” the agency stated.
During the pandemic, many countries have made statements attempting to counter misinformation as inaccuracies related to COVID-19 have spread online, resulting in movements such as those spreading anti-masking sentiment.
The World Health Organization called it an “infodemic” in September 2020.
Sweden is just one of several European countries that have changed or added to their counter-disinformation strategies during the pandemic, according to a report from the Hague Program for Cyber Norms, which stated that France, Germany and the U.K., among others, also updated their policies.
Sweden has been an outlier among European countries for choosing not to implement lockdowns and relying on more voluntary measures such as physical distancing, a response which has been criticized internationally and domestically. The country’s COVID-19 death toll per capita has been much higher than its Scandinavian neighbours throughout the pandemic.
According to their website, Sweden’s new agency will include three departments: an administrative arm to provide support, an operations department to identify and respond to “misleading information directed at Sweden or Swedish interests,” and a capacity building department to provide support to existing agencies to strengthen their psychological defences.
The website noted that freedom of speech and expression are protected by the constitution, and that the new agency will not interfere with that.
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