White nationalism is a type of nationalism that is pegged on the idea that as a race, white people should impose their supremacist ideologies and work toward maintaining their white racial identity. In Sweden, there was a very close relationship between the media and white nationalism. Sweden was long seen as a highly desirable and nearly perfect society for its members. The president used the media to fuel the idea that the attacks and violence that happened in the country were due to the welcoming of refugees.
The president had acquired the information from a short film promoting Sweden’s undesirable view as a victim of its asylum policies (Becker, 2019). Masked men attacked police officers in Rinkeby while they were making drug arrests and set cars ablaze in the following days. Amidst the moment, Russian television crews came to take advantage of the opportunity by offering immigrants payment to cause trouble to depict them as violent individuals. Mr. Castillo said that the media group wanted to show the president that it was confirmed the immigrants were terrorists and wanted to disturb the peace of society.
After being persuaded by academics and rights groups, Facebook banned white nationalism from the forum (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2019). Facebook took this step after the live streaming of an aggression by a user on its platform. The Facebook update was expected to encourage other platforms to act urgently to counter white nationalism ideas’ growth, which outstretched violence and inspired tragic attacks. Amazon and YouTube did not take action immediately. The Facebook vice president revealed the formation of an overseeing board that would consist of about 40 global experts with experience in solitude, complimentary expressions, human rights, and safety.
In conclusion, the media played a significant role in the promotion of white nationalism. The case of Sweden demonstrates the role of the media in the portrayal of immigrants as violent individuals who disturbed society’s peace. The banning of white nationalism on Facebook’s forum depicts how such ideologies were propelled by media platforms.
References
Becker, J. (2019). The global machine behind the rise of far-right nationalism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/world/europe/sweden-immigration-nationalism.html
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. (2019). Facebook bans content related to white nationalism & separatism after pressure from civil rights groups. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/facebook-bans-content-related-to-white-nationalism-separatism-after-pressure-from-civil-rights-groups/
