The LVU Campaign : The disinformation campaign against Swedish social services: Disinformation, conspiracy theories and domestic-international links related to malign influence activities by non-state actors

Distrust towards Swedish public authorities, the judiciary, and various forms of municipal activities – including social services – is not a new phenomenon in Sweden and has been particularly noted in relation to so-called socially vulnerable areas. The issue of the role of social services has also been exploited within radical Islamist circles, both nationally and internationally. In early 2022, attention was drawn to a malign information influence campaign in relation to the Swedish social services as well as the Care of Young Persons Act (LVU), which claimed, among other things, that the Swedish social services kidnap children and particularly target children of foreign origin and Muslim faith. Several different actors in Sweden initially united on social media and through in-person demonstrations, and soon thereafter the issue took on an extensive international dimension. This would later evolve into what has been called the largest information influence campaign Sweden has ever faced. In the wake of this campaign, hostility and threats have been directed against Swedish public institutions and individual social welfare officers and calls for violence and terrorist attacks have been made. Furthermore, it has been noted that actors with links to radical Islamist milieus – some violent – also have promoted and spread such narratives. The following study presents a chronological account of the origins and development of the so-called LVU campaign, both in Sweden and internationally, as well as the links between these dimensions. The study's empirical material consists mainly of content from freely available social media, with a particular focus on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, and is based, among other things, on a daily review of a number of prominent foreign Arabic- and Turkish-language accounts – both prior to the emergence of the campaign, in 2021, as well as during its immense development in 2022. In addition to this chronological account, a narrative analys
Translation from: LVU-kampanjen: Desinformation, konspirationsteorier, och kopplingarna mellan det inhemska och det internationella i relation till informationspåverkan från icke-statliga aktörer (2023)
Myndigheten för psykologiskt försvar (MPF)